Short Story Practice

Answer the following questions about "Sweetness" as practice for the assessment.

1. In paragraph 1, Sweetness says, "You might think she's a throwback, but a throwback to what?"
Explain what she means by "throwback."


2. In paragraph 2, Sweetness describes her parents with a tone of
a. neutrality
b. condescension
c. pride
d. indifference

3. In paragraph 3, when Sweetness uses the term "pickaninny", the surrounding sentences suggest that she probably does so with a tone of
a. disdain
b. affection
c. confusion
d. rage

4. Which of the following sentences best summarizes paragraph 5, which begins, "I never did convince..."
a. Sweetness's husband Louis never let go of the idea that she had cheated on him.
b. Sweetness was discriminated against by landlords for having such a dark skinned daughter.
c. Life at the time was unfair for dark skinned people.
d. Mr. Leigh was a decent landlord despite the racism of the time.
e. Sweetness suffered a variety of hardships due to Lula Ann's dark skin color.

5. When Sweetness describes how she asked Lula Ann to call her Sweetness rather than "Mother" or "Mama" because, "It was safer," the word "safer" is suggestive of what?
a. the emotional distance Sweetness wanted to establish between her and Lula Ann
b. the fact that Sweetness doesn't want to think of herself as being Lula Ann's mother
c. the fact that Sweetness wants to protect herself from the judgement of other people
d. the fact that Sweetness is vain about her age
e. all of the above
f. a, b, and c