Show:
Plot
Themes
Hunting for Literary Devices
Identifying and Remembering Literary Devices
Obscure Colors
100
What careers do Betsy, Hilda, and Doreen portray in their pictures?
farmer’s wife, hat designer, and social worker in India
100
Name the most dominant theme in chapter 9 and the most dominant theme in chapter 10.
9: oppression of women 10: Esther's breakdown
100
Find the metaphor on page 100.
“Fascinated, I stared at the blind cave behind her face...”
100
What is the literary device in the following quotation and what is its context? “At last, obediently, like the mouth of a ventriloquist’s dummy, my own mouth started to quirk up”? (102)
Literary device: Simile Context: Esther is posing for her picture.
100
What color is being promoted for the fall?
bile green
200
With whom is Marco in love?
His first cousin
200
Find an example of the oppression of women on page 105.
"The hand round my arm tightened"
200
Find and explain the simile on page 107.
“Woman-haters were like gods: invulnerable and chock-full of power. They descended, and then they disappeared. You could never catch one.” The simile relates to the theme of the oppression of women by illustrating the elusive power misogynists have.
200
What is the literary device in the following quotation: “A great white light seemed to shoot out of it, leaving a dewdrop on a field of gold”?
Metaphor
200
What color and material is the loveseat in Jay Cee’s office?
pink velvet
300
What does Marco say Esther must tell him or he’ll break her neck?
Esther must tell Marco where the diamond is.
300
In addition to attempting to rape Esther, provide an example of Marco dominating her.
Dancing, throwing her drink on the ground
300
Identify 3 examples of war imagery on page 109. How is this imagery appropriate?
1. "two bloody-minded adversaries" 2. "full view of the battle" 3. "steel plate of a battleship" The war imagery emphasizes the figurative war between Esther and Marco
300
What are the literary devices in the following quotation and what is its context? “I felt limp and betrayed, like the skin shed by a terrible animal. It was a relief to be free of the animal, but it seemed to have taken my spirit with it, and everything else it could lay its paws on.”
Literary devices: Simile and metaphor Context: After Esther cries when posing for her picture.
300
What color is Marco’s blood when he wipes it with his white handkerchief?
Black (page 109)
400
What does Esther write in her letter to Buddy?
She is marrying a simultaneous interpreter, she doesn’t want to see Buddy again, and she doesn’t want to give her children a hypocrite for a father
400
What themes does Esther wearing Betsy's clothes illustrate?
Appearance vs reality; Esther's breakdown
400
Identify and explain the simile on page 114. What theme does it relate to?
“All through June the writing course had stretched before me like a bright, safe bridge over the dull gulf of summer. Now I saw it totter and dissolve, and a body in a white blouse and green skirt plummet into the gap.” Themes: appearance vs reality; mental breakdown
400
What does Esther say her face looks like the morning after Marco rapes her?
A sick Indian
400
What does this this quote refer to? “...he simply opened his mouth and breathed out a blue, vaporous ring” (108)
Marco exhaling smoke from his cigar
500
What 2 things did Mrs. Ockenden call Esther’s mom about?
Esther was kissing someone in a blue Plymouth and Esther should close her blinds because she could see Esther half naked getting ready for bed.
500
How does chapter 10 end and what theme does it illustrate?
Chapter 10 ends with Teresa suggesting that Esther needs to see a psychiatrist. This illustrates the theme of Esther's breakdown.
500
Find and explain 3 similes on page 123.
"Then plan after plan started leaping through my head, like a family of scatty rabbits" The simile reveals how many different ideas Esther has and how overwhelmed she is. "They hung the raw, red screen of their tiny vessels in front of me like a wound" This simile emphasizes the trauma Esther feels, not only because she cannot sleep but also because she is figuratively "wounded." "I crawled between the mattress and the padded bedstead and let the mattress fall across me like a tombstone" This simile foreshadows her suicidal thoughts.
500
Whose voice does Esther think sounds like a dybbuk?
Hilda
500
What color is Dodo Conway’s house?
1st story is gray studded with purple and gray stones and the 2nd story is dark brown