1. Where was Sethe born?
- A. The South
- B. Sweet Home
- C. Cincinnati
- D. Ohio River
Answer: The South (A)
Sethe was born in the South to an African mother.
2. What was the name of Sethe’s husband?
- A. Halle
- B. Paul A
- C. Paul D
- D. Sixo
Answer: Halle (A)
Sethe chose to marry Halle, apparently in part because he had proven generous enough to buy his mother’s freedom.
3. What was the name of the cruel man who helped Mrs. Garner run the farm?
- A. Mr. Garner
- B. Paul D
- C. Halle
- D. Schoolteacher
Answer: Schoolteacher (D)
The widowed Mrs. Garner asked her sadistic, vehemently racist brother-in-law, known as schoolteacher, to help her run the farm.
4. What did Sethe do to her children to spare them from slavery?
- A. She left them in the forest
- B. She sold them to a new owner
- C. She killed one of them
- D. She sent them to her mother-in-law’s house
Answer: She killed one of them (C)
Rather than surrender her children to a life of dehumanizing slavery, Sethe tried to kill them.
5. Who helped Sethe deliver her baby in a boat?
- A. Paul D
- B. Mrs. Garner
- C. Amy Denver
- D. Baby Suggs
Answer: Amy Denver (C)
Amy Denver helped Sethe deliver her baby in a boat.
6. What was the name of the house where Sethe and her family lived?
- A. Baby Suggs’s House
- B. 124
- C. The Garners’ House
- D. Sweet Home
Answer: 124 (B)
Sethe returns to the house at 124, where Baby Suggs has sunk into a deep depression.
7. What was Paul D’s experience after trying to kill Brandywine?
- A. He escaped to the North
- B. He was sent to a chain gang in Georgia
- C. He was whipped severely
- D. He was sold to a new owner
Answer: He was sent to a chain gang in Georgia (B)
Paul D endured torturous experiences in a chain gang in Georgia, where he was sent after trying to kill Brandywine.
8. Why did Halle go mad?
- A. Because he was sold to a new owner
- B. Because he was whipped severely
- C. Because he saw Sethe being violated by schoolteacher’s nephews
- D. Because he was forced to wear an iron bit in his mouth
Answer: Because he saw Sethe being violated by schoolteacher’s nephews (C)
Halle goes mad after watching schoolteacher’s nephews violate Sethe in the barn.
9. What was the name of Sethe’s older daughter who died?
- A. Beloved
- B. Denver
- C. Buglar
- D. Howard
Answer: Beloved (A)
Sethe later arranges for the baby’s headstone to be carved with the word ‘Beloved’.
10. What allowed Paul D and the other chain gang members to escape?
- A. A fight between the guards
- B. A group of abolitionists
- C. A group of slaves who rebelled
- D. A fortuitous rainstorm
Answer: A fortuitous rainstorm (D)
A fortuitous rainstorm allows Paul D and the other chain gang members to escape.
11. Where does the story begin in 1873?
- A. Sweet Home plantation
- B. Kentucky
- C. Cincinnati, Ohio
- D. Bluestone Road
Answer: Cincinnati, Ohio (C)
Cincinnati, Ohio is the starting point of the novel.
12. Who lived with Sethe and Denver until her death eight years earlier?
- A. Howard
- B. Baby Suggs
- C. Paul D
- D. Buglar
Answer: Baby Suggs (B)
Baby Suggs was Sethe’s mother-in-law and lived with them until her death.
13. Why did Sethe’s two sons, Howard and Buglar, run away?
- A. Because of Sethe’s mistreatment
- B. Because of the malevolent presence of an abusive ghost
- C. Because of their dislike for Baby Suggs
- D. Because of the presence of Paul D
Answer: Because of the malevolent presence of an abusive ghost (B)
Sethe believes that the ghost was the reason her sons ran away.
14. Who is the ghost that haunts the house at 124 Bluestone Road?
- A. The spirit of Baby Suggs
- B. The spirit of Mr. Garner
- C. The spirit of Sethe’s mother
- D. The spirit of her dead sister
Answer: The spirit of her dead sister (D)
The ghost is believed to be the spirit of Denver’s dead sister.
15. Who stops by Sethe’s house on the day the novel begins?
- A. Mr. Garner
- B. Paul D
- C. Howard
- D. Buglar
Answer: Paul D (B)
Paul D’s visit to Sethe’s house marks the beginning of the story.
16. Where did Sethe and Paul D work together approximately twenty years earlier?
- A. Bluestone Road
- B. Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky
- C. Cincinnati, Ohio
- D. Baby Suggs’s house
Answer: Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky (B)
Sethe and Paul D worked together on Mr. Garner’s Sweet Home plantation in Kentucky.
17. What is the effect of Paul D’s presence on Sethe’s memories?
- A. It has no effect on her memories
- B. It creates new memories
- C. It erases her memories
- D. It resurrects memories that have lain buried
Answer: It resurrects memories that have lain buried (D)
Paul D’s visit brings back memories that Sethe had suppressed for almost two decades.
18. How does the story unfold?
- A. On multiple temporal planes that are not specified
- B. On a single temporal plane
- C. On three temporal planes
- D. On two temporal planes
Answer: On two temporal planes (D)
The story unfolds on two temporal planes, the present in Cincinnati and the past in Kentucky.
19. What is the purpose of the fragmented flashbacks in the novel?
- A. To add more information to previous events
- B. To provide a detailed description of the setting
- C. To summarize the story so far
- D. To introduce new characters
Answer: To add more information to previous events (A)
The fragmented flashbacks provide additional information to previous events, gradually revealing the story.
20. What is the result of reading the flashbacks multiple times?
- A. New information is added to previous events
- B. The story becomes more straightforward
- C. The story becomes more confusing
- D. The characters’ personalities are revealed
Answer: New information is added to previous events (A)
Reading the flashbacks multiple times adds more information to previous events, providing a deeper understanding of the story.
21. Who chases the resident ghost away from 124?
- A. Denver
- B. Paul D
- C. Sethe
- D. Beloved
Answer: Paul D (B)
This event marks the beginning of Paul D’s impact on the household.
22. What is the catalyst for Paul D’s departure from 124?
- A. Beloved’s presence
- B. Denver’s attachment to Beloved
- C. Learning about Sethe’s infanticide
- D. Sethe’s obsession with Beloved
Answer: Learning about Sethe’s infanticide (C)
Paul D’s reaction to the truth about Sethe’s past reveals his character.
23. What is the community’s ultimate goal in regards to Beloved?
- A. To keep Beloved at 124 forever
- B. To help Beloved understand Sethe’s actions
- C. To exorcise Beloved from 124
- D. To make peace with Beloved’s presence
Answer: To exorcise Beloved from 124 (C)
The community’s efforts to help Sethe are crucial to the novel’s climax.
24. Who helps Denver leave 124 for the first time in twelve years?
- A. Beloved
- B. Paul D
- C. Ella
- D. Lady Jones
Answer: Lady Jones (D)
Denver’s decision to seek help marks a turning point in the novel.
25. What does Mr. Bodwin mistake Sethe for when he arrives at 124?
- A. A ghost
- B. Schoolteacher
- C. A friend
- D. A neighbor
Answer: Schoolteacher (B)
This misunderstanding leads to a dramatic confrontation.
26. What is the state of Beloved at the end of the novel?
- A. Still living with Sethe
- B. Dead and forgotten
- C. Forgotten by the community
- D. Pregnant and smiling on the porch
Answer: Forgotten by the community (C)
Beloved’s fate serves as a warning to the characters and readers.
27. Who finally returns to Sethe after Beloved’s departure?
- A. Paul D
- B. Lady Jones
- C. Denver
- D. Ella
Answer: Paul D (A)
Paul D’s return marks a new beginning for Sethe.
28. What is Sethe’s lament about Beloved?
- A. She was my best thing
- B. She was my biggest mistake
- C. She was my worst nightmare
- D. She was my greatest sorrow
Answer: She was my best thing (A)
Sethe’s words reveal her complex emotions about Beloved.
29. What is the final message of the novel?
- A. Beloved will always be remembered
- B. This is a story to pass on
- C. The past will always haunt us
- D. This is not a story to pass on
Answer: This is not a story to pass on (D)
The novel’s closing message is a warning to the characters and readers.
30. How does the town and the residents of 124 ultimately remember Beloved?
- A. Like a vivid nightmare
- B. Like an unpleasant dream during a troubling sleep
- C. Like a cherished memory
- D. Like a distant memory
Answer: Like an unpleasant dream during a troubling sleep (B)
The town’s collective memory of Beloved is a testament to her impact.
