Everyday Use Test Questions – Flashcards
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"Everyday Use" is set in
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Old South Georgia
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Which late-night television personality appears in the story?
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Johnny Carson
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Who is the narrator of "Everyday Use"?
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the mother
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"Asalamalakim" is
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a greeting sometimes used by Arabic speakers.
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Dee demands to take various household objects with her to decorate her apartment, including
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the butter churn top and dasher, a bench, and Grandma Dee's quilt.
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The climax of "Everyday Use" occurs when
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the mother takes the quilts from Dee and gives them to Maggie.
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What do the quilts "mean" as objects central to the story?
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-They are art objects -They are meant to cover the marriage bed -They represent family and the coninuity of women's relationships
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To understand the historical/biographical dimensions of "Everyday Use," it helps to know that
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-Alice Walker was herself the daughter of Southern sharecroppers - Walker was deserted by her older, educated sister, Mollie -The 1970s, when the story was written, were a time of black nationalism
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At the end, Dee tells her mother and sister that they don't understand their "heritage," and departs with sunglasses on. What happens next?
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Maggie smiles.
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How many rooms does the Johnsons' current house have?
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three
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When Ms. Johnson snatches the quilts from Wangero's hands, who sits on the bed with her mouth open in shock?
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Maggie
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When boys and girls hang around Dee in her youth, what does she do to entertain them?
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She reads to them
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How long is Dee's dress when she exits the car?
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It touches the ground.
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Why does Dee change her name?
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So she won't have a white oppressor name
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When Ms. Johnson snatches Grandma Dee's quilts from Wangero's hands, into whose hands does she place them?
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Maggie's
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Who puts on a pair of sunglasses at the end of "Everyday Use"?
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Wangero
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To what does Dee change her name?
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Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo
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From where does the wood that gives Ms. Johnson's dasher its color come?
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The tree that stood in the yard where Big Dee and Stash lived.
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Whose name is twice as long and three times as hard as Wangero's in Ms. Johnson's opinion?
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Dee's male companion
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What looks like a mule tail to Ms. Johnson when she sees Dee's male companion?
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The hair from the man's chin.
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When Ms. Johnson offers Dee a quilt in the past, what is Dee's reaction?
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She doesn't want it because it is old-fashioned.
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What drives Jimmy T, a former suitor, away from Dee?
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She criticizes him too much.
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What does the person who wants the butter churn dash tell Ms. Johnson she will do with it?
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Something artistic that she hasn't yet determined.
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On what occasion has Ms. Johnson offered Dee a quilt in the past?
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When Dee left for college.
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What does Wangero feel on the benches when she runs her hands along them?
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Rump prints.
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Who learns to quilt from Grandma Dee and Aunt Dicie/Big Dee?
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Maggie
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What does Wangero tell Maggie to do at the end of the story?
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Try to make something of herself
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How does Maggie respond to the attempts to shake her hand?
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She keeps trying to pull her limp, sweating hand back.
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What is the nickname of the person who whittles Ms. Johnson's churn dasher?
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Stash
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What does the person who wants the butter churn top slide over it as if trying to see how it will look in her own home?
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A dinner plate
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How does the Johnson's current home different from their previous home?
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It has a tin roof instead of a shingle roof.
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What does the narrator's yard look like?
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It is made of hard clay with sand around the edges.
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Which of the following is not a feature of the narrator's dream?
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A. She makes witty remarks. B. She has rough hands. C. She weighs a hundred pounds less than she does in real life. D. Her daughter pins an orchid on her dress.
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What happened to the family's old house?
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It burned down.
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How much education has the narrator had?
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She finished second grade.
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What is the central theme of the story?
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It concerns the importance of heritage and culture to an individual's understanding of his or her life and identity.
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The debate over how the quilts should be treated—used or hung on the wall—represents
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the black woman's dilemma about how to face the future.
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Which of the following events is presented in a flashback?
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The family's house burned down.
