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The Color Purple

Quiz

Context

Plot Overview

Character List

Analysis of Major Characters

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The Color Purple

Alice Walker

Quiz

1. Alphonso never revealed that Celie and Nettie were not his biological children because:

(A) He did not want to hurt them

(B) He thought he was indeed their father

(D) He promised their mother he would never reveal the truth

2. What drug does Grady enjoy?

(A) Opium

(B) Marijuana

(D) LSD

3. Why is a road being built through the Olinka village?

(A) Because an English rubber plantation is being built

(B) To make it easier for the Olinka villagers to travel to a nearby city

(D) Because the previous road was washed out in a flood

4. Who tries to convince the warden to release Sophia?

(A) Shug

(B) Grady

(D) Squeak

5. Why do Nettie and her family return to the United States?

(A) They are exiled by the government in Africa

(B) Nettie has learned about their inheritance

(D) Adam and Tashi are not permitted to marry in Africa

6. How does Nettie end up at Mr. ______'s house?

(A) She runs away from Alphonso's house

(B) Mr. ______ kidnaps her

(D) Nettie gets lost and stumbles upon Celie in her yard

7. Why does Harpo gain weight?

(A) He develops a sweet tooth and overeats

(B) His medicine has a side effect of weight gain

(D) He drinks too much at his new club

8. In what context is the color purple mentioned in the novel?

(A) It is the color of Squeak's stage dress

(B) Shug tells Celie that the color purple signifies strength and power

(D) Celie uses only purple thread in her clothing business

9. What is Celie's daughter's name?

(A) Tashi

(B) Olivia

(D) Sofia

10. Why did Albert (Mr. ---______) never marry Shug?

(A) His true love was for another woman

(B) Shug was unable to bear children

(D) Shug fled town to pursue a singing career

11. Why does Sofia get into trouble with the mayor?

(A) She pickets outside city hall

(B) She sasses the mayor's wife

(D) She is caught shoplifting food for her family

12. Why does Corrine suspect that Samuel and Nettie once had an affair?

(A) Corrine and Samuel's adopted children closely resemble Nettie

(B) Samuel is always happy around Nettie

(D) Nettie seems inordinately attached to Corrine's children

13. What painful process does Tashi undergo while still in Africa?

(A) She has a lip plate implanted in her lower lip

(B) She gets an abdominal tattoo that represents her ancestry

(D) She and Olivia go through a ceremony to become blood sisters

14. Which of Nettie's travel destinations impresses her because of its high black culture?

(A) The Olinka village

(B) Alabama

(D) Harlem

15. What is Squeak's real name?

(A) Eleanor Jane

(B) Mary Agnes

(D) Squeak

16. What does Celie name her sewing business?

(A) Folkspants, Unlimited

(B) The Quilt Hut

(D) Tailor-Made

17. How does Shug suggest Celie reimagine God?

(A) As a white, bearded man

(B) As a black, bearded man

(D) As an “it”

18. Why does Celie move from Tennessee to Georgia at the end of the novel?

(A) To start her sewing business

(B) Shug wants her out of the house

(D) The music is better in Georgia

19. What is Shug's career?

(A) Seamstress

(B) Singer

(D) Grocery owner

20. When does Shug believe a woman stops being a virgin?

(A) The first time she has an orgasm

(B) The first time she menstruates

(D) The day she turns fourteen

21. What is Miss Millie's daughter's name?

(A) Mary Agnes

(B) Sofia

(D) Harriet

22. How does Celie persuade Shug to stay a little longer at Mr. ______'s house?

(A) She offers to share her bed

(B) She convinces Shug she is not totally cured of her illness

(D) She confesses that Mr. ______ beats her

23. Who is Suzie Q?

(A) Harpo and Sofia's daughter

(B) Shug and Grady's daughter

(D) Celie and Mr. ______'s daughter

24. Who convinces Mr. ______ that Celie needs new clothes?

(A) His sister, Kate

(B) His son, Harpo

(D) His wife, Celie

25. At the end of the novel, Celie decides that although she is older, she feels:

(A) Richer

(B) Happier

(D) Younger

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The Color Purple

African American Literature

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