The Face on the Milk Carton

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following words best describes Janie after she believes she saw her picture on the milk carton?

A) Enraged

B) Disheartened

C) Dazed

D) Relieved

2. As Janie listens to her friends talk about their birth certificates, she “seemed to melt, like ice cream in the sun” (Chapter 4). Which of the following literary devices is used in this quote?

A) Palindrome

B) Personification

C) Allegory

D) Simile

3. According to Janie, which of the following adjectives best describes Janie’s mother’s reaction when Janie asks her about her birth certificate?

A) Evasive

B) Confused

C) Relieved

D) Calm

4. Which type of literary device does Janie frequently use in her inner monologues when she thinks about the photo of the girl on the milk carton?

A) She uses allegories in order to describe stories she learned as a small child.

B) She uses metaphors and similes to vividly compare herself to the outside world.

C) She uses personifications to express the emotiveness of the carton.

D) She uses anaphoras for poetic word play.

5. Which of the following best describes Janie’s personality?

A) Confrontational

B) Gossipy

C) Flirtatious

D) Peace-loving

6. After the Honors Breakfast, the narrator describes Janie’s day: “School that day was a queer and floating place. Janie filled her spot. She talked, wrote, wended her way from hall to class. But she was a mind floating in an ocean of confusion, battered against milk-carton photographs and attic trunks” (Chapter 8). Which of the following literary devices is used in this quote?

A) Metaphor

B) Simile

C) Anaphora

D) Alliteration

7. Which of the following best describes Janie’s reaction to her parents’ scolding in the beginning of Chapter 13?

A) Angry because Miranda and Frank were yelling at her

B) Frustrated because she did not want to go to the motel with Reeve

C) Disheartened because she disappointed her family

D) Pleased because she felt that Frank and Miranda truly loved her

8. Which of the following best describes Reeve’s reaction to the end of his relationship with Janie?

A) Indifferent

B) Happy

C) Angry

D) Hurt

9. Which of the following literary terms best describes how the phrase “New Jersey” is used throughout the text?

A) Metaphor

B) Personification

C) Metonymy

D) Paradox

10. Which of the following best describes Hannah’s personality?

A) Guilty of leaving Jennie

B) Passionate about her religious beliefs

C) Ashamed for her involvement with Hare Krishna

D) Devoted to her collegiate studies

11. Which of the following phrases best describes Janie and Reeve’s relationship over the course of the novel?

A) Unrequited love

B) Pining for one another

C) Platonic relationship

D) Forbidden romance

12. Which of the following best describes Frank and Miranda's behavior throughout the course of the novel?

A) Distraught that Janie wants to learn the truth about her past

B) Enraged that Hannah and Reeve are becoming more serious

C) Supportive of Janie's decision to ignore the Springs

D) Persistent in providing a loving, stable family home for Janie

13. Read the following quote from Chapter 16: “Reeve said, ‘It’s Pandora’s box, isn’t it? The myth. The minute you opened that milk carton, it was all there: every evil thing. And you’ll never be able to put it back. It’s out now.’” What literary term is used in this quote?

A) Simile

B) Metaphor

C) Allusion

D) Allegory

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Consider how the author uses figurative language in the text. What type of figurative language does the author use the most when describing Janie? Select three examples of figurative language and explain their effect on Janie’s character development.

2. Throughout the novel, Janie yearns for the chance to get her driver's license. What will obtaining a driver’s license symbolize for her?