The Third Life of Grange Copeland MCQs

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Author: Nasir Iqbal | Assistant Professor of English Literature

The Third Life of Grange Copeland MCQs
Updated on: November 1, 2025
Estimated Reading Time: 20 min

The Third Life of Grange Copeland MCQs

1. What model of car did Uncle Silas drive?

A. Ford
B. Buick
C. Cadillac
D. Chevrolet

B. Buick.
It was a new 1920 Buick, long and shiny green with fuzzy blue seats inside. This was a striking symbol of wealth.

2. Why did Brownfield feel embarrassed about the road?

A. It was too dusty
B. It damaged the car
C. It was too winding
D. It had police patrols

B. It damaged the car.
He felt embarrassed because the rough road caused damage to Uncle Silas’s expensive car. The rural reality clashed with the urban symbol.

3. What job did Margaret (Brownfield’s mother) do for ready money?

A. Picking cotton
B. Pulling baits
C. Cleaning houses
D. Weaving baskets

B. Pulling baits.
Margaret worked all day pulling squirming baits (worms/lizards) for ready money. This was a low-paying, dehumanizing chore.

4. How did Brownfield’s cousins describe his father’s work situation?

A. He owned the farm
B. He worked for a cracker
C. He was his own boss
D. He was traveling

B. He worked for a cracker.
His cousins taunted him, saying his father worked for and was owned by a cracker. This showed Grange’s lack of freedom.
5. What condition did Brownfield develop from eating garden tomatoes?

A. Stomach ulcers
B. Tetter sores
C. Tomato sores
D. Blurry vision

C. Tomato sores.
Tomato sores covered his legs up to the knee when the tomatoes were ripe. This reflected the unsanitary conditions of their poverty.

6. Why did Brownfield think his father’s face froze when the truck arrived?

A. Fear of the noisy truck
B. Hatred of the white man
C. Exhaustion from work
D. Pain from drinking

B. Hatred of the white man.
He realized the man who drove the truck caused his father to don an impenetrable mask of submission and hatred.

7. What did the driver, Mr. Shipley, smell like when he spoke to Brownfield?

A. Mint
B. Whiskey
C. Sweat
D. Cotton dust

A. Mint.
When Mr. Shipley spoke to Brownfield, he had the odor of mint on his breath. This smell contrasted sharply with the dust and poverty of the farm.

8. What did Grange say he ought to do to Brownfield when he was drinking?

A. Send him North
B. Buy him a toy
C. Throw him down the well
D. Teach him plowing

C. Throw him down the well.
Grange looked at Brownfield and said, “I ought to throw you down the goddam well.” This was an expression of his deep, misdirected self-hatred.

9. Why did Margaret say she didn’t go North with her sister Marilyn?

A. She loved Grange
B. She knew nothing of the North
C. She feared Silas
D. She stayed in school

B. She knew nothing of the North.
When Grange suggested she could have gone, Margaret replied, “I don’t know nothing about up Norse.” This showed her deep, crippling provinciality.
10. What was Margaret’s opinion of her sister Marilyn’s appearance in the North?

A. Beautiful
B. Bleached up like a streetwalker
C. Rich
D. Healthy

B. Bleached up like a streetwalker.
Margaret worried her sister Marilyn was “all bleached up like a streetwalker” and disliked her wig. This reflected her suspicion of Northern sophistication.

11. What was the cycle of Grange’s mood by Thursday night?

A. Morose
B. Gloomy peak
C. Happy
D. Stupefied

B. Gloomy peak.
Grange’s gloominess reached its peak on Thursday, grimacing respectfully at the driver’s jokes. This showed the cyclical nature of his suffering.

12. What did Grange do on Saturday night that forced Margaret and Brownfield to hide?

A. Drove the wagon
B. Stumbled home drunk and shot his shotgun
C. Fought the neighbors
D. Went to town

B. Stumbled home drunk and shot his shotgun.
Late Saturday night, Grange came home drunk, threatening them and shooting off his shotgun. This was a terrifying, weekly ritual of abuse.

13. What did Brownfield observe about their house’s structure?

A. Painted white
B. Sway-backed animal
C. Too large
D. Very new

B. Sway-backed animal.
The gray cabin was lower in the middle, resembling a sway-backed animal turned out to pasture. This image reflected their neglected domestic life.

14. What was the signal that Grange gave up on repairing the house or a dream?

A. Crying
B. Shrug
C. Angry silence
D. Drinking

B. Shrug.
Grange’s “fatal shrug” meant he saw nothing he could change and gave up the effort. It was a sign of profound, passive acceptance of his fate.
15. What did Brownfield’s cousin Angeline accuse Grange of wanting Margaret to do?

A. Divorce him
B. Sell herself
C. Start drinking
D. Move to Chicago

B. Sell herself.
Angeline told Brownfield that Grange had tried to get his wife to sell herself to get out of debt. This accusation revealed Grange’s extreme desperation.

16. What object did Brownfield use to polish his new shoes in his daydream?

A. Silk cloth
B. His father’s old shirt
C. A special wax
D. A soft brush

B. His father’s old shirt.
He polished his new shoes caressingly with a piece of one of his father’s old shirts. This was a strange mingling of material aspiration and filial memory.

17. What two women’s faces constantly interchanged as Brownfield’s wife in his daydream?

A. Mem and Josie
B. Nettie and Celie
C. His wife and the cook
D. Margaret and Marilyn

C. His wife and the cook.
The face of Brownfield’s wife and that of the cook constantly interchanged in his dream. This showed his conflicting desires for domesticity and status.

18. What job was Brownfield’s imaginary chauffeur’s wife highly respected for?

A. Teaching
B. Cooking
C. Cleaning
D. Sewing

B. Cooking.
The chauffeur’s wife was the beloved and respected cook in Brownfield’s imagined mansion. This dream job showed his association of high status with domestic service.

19. How did Grange react when Brownfield moved toward his hand while pretending to sleep?

A. He touched him gently
B. He drew back his hand
C. He woke him up
D. He left the room

B. He drew back his hand.
Brownfield moved toward his father’s hand, but Grange drew back without touching him. This suggested his profound, toxic inability to show affection to his son.
20. Why did Brownfield hate Grange after the night of the failed touch?

A. Grange was silent
B. Grange could not bear to touch his son
C. Grange had left home
D. Grange was too old

B. Grange could not bear to touch his son.
Brownfield realized Grange hated him and couldn’t bear to touch his son. This led to his deep, formative hatred of his father.

21. What was Brownfield’s major internal conflict regarding Mem?

A. Her superior education
B. Her family ties
C. Her beauty
D. Her kindness

A. Her superior education.
He could not forgive Mem’s greater knowledge, which put her closer to the white men’s power. This fueled his resentment and later abuse.

22. What did Brownfield want Mem to do instead of talking “proper”?

A. Remain silent
B. Talk like a hopeless nigger woman
C. Learn Spanish
D. Use smaller words

B. Talk like a hopeless nigger woman.
He wanted her to talk like a hopeless nigger woman who deserved to be beaten every Saturday night. This expressed his internalized self-hatred.

23. What was Mem’s big dream that Brownfield sabotaged?

A. Writing a book
B. Buying a house
C. Starting a school
D. Moving North

B. Buying a house.
Mem saved money to buy a house, but Brownfield stole the money to buy a pig and a car. This act destroyed Mem’s dream.

24. What was Mem forced to do to please her husband regarding her speech?

A. Learn to read
B. Revert to her old dialect
C. Speak in rhymes
D. Stop speaking entirely

B. Revert to her old dialect.
To please Brownfield, Mem reverted to her old dialect, losing her proper nouns and verbs. This destruction of her education was Brownfield’s act of control.
25. What poisonous chore did Brownfield make his daughter Daphne perform at age five?

A. Pick cotton
B. Hand-mop cotton with arsenic
C. Work in the dairy
D. Clean the house

B. Hand-mop cotton with arsenic.
He made his frail five-year-old daughter hand-mop cotton bushes with arsenic to keep off boll weevils. This was an act of cruelty and neglect.

26. What activity did Brownfield take up for fun to release his frustration?

A. Gambling
B. Killing cats and fish
C. Drinking only
D. Hunting deer

B. Killing cats and fish.
Brownfield took pleasure in drowning cats and pouring oil into streams to kill the fish. This sadism was a release for his inner rage and helplessness.
27. What did Mem realize about herself after being threatened with the gun?

A. She was a coward
B. She was not meant to fight
C. She had let Brownfield play man long enough
D. She was in love

C. She had let Brownfield play man long enough.
Mem stated, “I have just about let you play man long enough to find out you ain’t one.” This realization gave her the will to finally resist him.

28. What final commitment did Mem make before Brownfield violently attacked her?

A. She signed a lease on a house in town
B. She was moving to Mr. J.L.’s place
C. She was moving in with Josie
D. She was leaving the county

A. She signed a lease on a house in town.
Mem informed Brownfield that she had signed a lease on a house in town for $20 a month. This act of independence triggered Brownfield’s final violence.

29. What job did Mem eventually get in town to support the family?

A. Factory worker
B. School teacher
C. Domestic maid
D. Waitress

C. Domestic maid.
She became a maid in a house in town for $17 a week to support her family. This job gave her independence from Brownfield’s control.
30. What was Brownfield’s reasoning for killing Mem after she lost her plumpness?

A. She became skinny
B. She became too strong
C. She was cheating
D. He hated her pride

A. She became skinny.
Brownfield killed Mem because she had become skinny; plumpness meant security and life to him. He hated that she was losing her essential life force.

31. What was the name of the woman who owned the juke joint?

A. Lorene
B. Fat Josie
C. Mary Agnes
D. Sister Madelaine

B. Fat Josie.
The heavy cantaloupe-colored woman introduced herself as Josie, or Fat Josie. She owned the Dew Drop Inn, a local gathering place.

32. What relationship did Josie have with Brownfield’s father, Grange?

A. They were old enemies
B. They were former lovers
C. They were cousins
D. They were business partners

B. They were former lovers.
Josie stated that she and Grange went back a long ways, since before Brownfield was born. She knew Grange intimately and carried a deep anger.

33. What was the ultimate motivation behind Josie sleeping with Brownfield?

A. She liked him a lot
B. To make Grange jealous, hoping to kill him
C. She needed the money
D. She wanted a big man

B. To make Grange jealous, hoping to kill him.
Josie admitted she was trying to kill Grange by making him jealous of her sleeping with his son. She sought profound revenge.

34. What was Josie’s daughter, Lorene, known for?

A. Singing
B. Expert use of the razor
C. Cooking
D. Teaching

B. Expert use of the razor.
Lorene had a reputation for toughness and was noted for her expert use of the razor. She was fiercely protective of her mother, Josie.
35. Why was Grange pushed into marrying Margaret instead of Josie?

A. He loved Margaret more
B. Margaret was wealthy
C. His family wanted respectability
D. Josie refused marriage

C. His family wanted respectability.
His “respectable” African Methodist Episcopal family couldn’t stand the thought of Josie. They pushed him to marry Margaret for social standing.

36. What caused Josie’s recurring violent dreams?

A. Indigestion
B. Shame
C. Being ridden by her father
D. Fear of the police

C. Being ridden by her father.
Sister Madelaine theorized indigestion, but Josie confessed she was being ridden by her father. This trauma manifested in recurring, violent nightmares.

37. What was Josie’s father doing when he forbade anyone to help her after she fell?

A. Sleeping
B. Preaching
C. Standing over her with his foot pressed down
D. Drinking too much

C. Standing over her with his foot pressed down.
Her father pressed his foot into her shoulder and forbade anyone to pick her up. This brutal act established his dominance and cruelty over her.

38. What did Brownfield realize about his father’s feeling toward Ruth?

A. He was indifferent
B. He was afraid of her
C. He loved her totally
D. He was planning to leave her

C. He loved her totally.
Brownfield realized that if he took Ruth away, it would be the same as taking Grange’s air. Grange loved Ruth totally and unconditionally.

39. What kind of creature did Brownfield compare Josie to in her relationship with him?

A. A cat
B. A cow
C. A pig
D. A whore

A. A cat.
Brownfield saw Josie as a “devouring cat, voracious and sly,” wanting to swallow him alive. This animalistic comparison showed his disdain and fear of her.
40. What did Josie sell to help Grange pay for their farm?

A. Her car
B. Her savings
C. The Dew Drop Inn
D. Her jewelry

C. The Dew Drop Inn.
Josie sold her cherished livelihood, the Dew Drop Inn, to help Grange buy the rock of his refuge. This was her final, profound sacrifice for him.

41. How did Ruth eventually learn Brownfield had been trying to read her school book?

A. She saw him reading it
B. He threw the book at her
C. Grange told her
D. Mem told her

B. He threw the book at her.
Brownfield was trying to mouth the simple words in her speller but threw the book at her when seen. This revealed his embarrassment about his illiteracy.

42. What item did Mem carry the night she was killed?

A. A gun
B. A shovel
C. Packages, including oranges
D. Her purse

C. Packages, including oranges.
Mem was lying faceless among a scattering of gravel and brightly glistening yellow oranges. These packages symbolized her independent life away from Brownfield.
43. Why did Grange forbid Ruth to ride on the back of the cotton truck to town?

A. It was too dangerous
B. She was too young
C. Field hands did it
D. Josie complained

C. Field hands did it.
Grange muttered sharply, “You not some kind of field hand!” when Ruth wanted to ride atop the cotton. This showed his desire to protect her status.

44. What event led Grange to agree to join the Baptist church as a boy?

A. He saw the Holy Ghost
B. He saw a fly swallowed by his uncle
C. He heard the preaching
D. His mother cried

B. He saw a fly swallowed by his uncle.
Grange bargained with God, saying he would join if his Uncle Buster swallowed the fly. This unusual sight was the sign he needed to convert.
45. What was the crime Grange committed in New York that he felt liberated him?

A. Stealing money
B. Killing a pregnant white woman
C. Selling drugs
D. Killing a policeman

B. Killing a pregnant white woman.
Grange felt liberated because he had stumbled on the necessary act that black men must commit: killing their oppressors. This radical feeling was a shocking consequence of his life.

46. What did Grange discover in the North that was crueler than the South’s disdain?

A. Extreme cold
B. High cost of living
C. Invisibility
D. Constant violence

C. Invisibility.
In the North, people acted as if he was not in existence, putting him in solitary confinement. This feeling of being unseen was crueler than the South’s overt hatred.

47. What was Grange’s ultimate teaching to the black community in Harlem?

A. Save money
B. Teach them to hate
C. Go back South
D. Join the army

B. Teach them to hate.
Grange shouted to the Harlem streets, “Teach them to hate, if you wants them to survive!”. This radical message was born from his rage and profound personal suffering.

48. What did Grange observe about Dr. King that made him respect him as a man?

A. His education
B. His singing
C. His gentleness with his family
D. His courage to march

C. His gentleness with his family.
Grange respected that even with spitting crackers, Dr. King was gentle with his wife and children. This showed Dr. King’s true character and strength.

49. What did Grange say was the cause of black people’s souls spoiling?

A. Poverty
B. Lack of education
C. Being forced to forgive oppression
D. Drinking liquor

C. Being forced to forgive oppression.
Grange suffered numbness and said constant abuse spoils the soul, making forgiveness impossible. This belief explained the spiritual damage caused by oppression.
50. What name did Grange use for the white judge who gave Brownfield custody of Ruth?

A. Judge Harry
B. Mr. Smith
C. Justice
D. Old fool

C. Justice.
Grange cried, “Halt, Justice!” and told the judge to “Shet up, Justice” after the murder. He addressed the judge by the title he failed to represent.

Brief Overview

Brownfield Copeland was a young boy in Georgia. His father, Grange, was silent and often drunk. His mother, Margaret, was poor and submissive to Grange. She worked pulling fishing baits to earn money.

Brownfield’s cousins visited from the North. They teased him that his father was “owned” by a white man named Shipley.

Margaret grew unhappy with her life. She began dating and eventually had a baby, Star, with another man. Grange became jealous and increasingly silent. One night, Grange left the family and went North. Margaret became desperate and poisoned herself and Star in the clearing.

Brownfield moved away after his mother’s funeral. He eventually married a good woman named Mem. Brownfield’s debt grew yearly. He became abusive and beat Mem weekly, blaming her for his failures. He forced her to move to a poor shack and stole her money.

Mem finally stood up to Brownfield. She got a job and leased a clean house in town. Brownfield was furious. He refused to move and instead moved them to a dirty, hay-filled house on Mr. J. L.’s property.

Brownfield accepted a bribe. He refused to pay rent on the city house. Mem became ill and was unable to keep her job. Brownfield moved his family to a worse shack. Mem recovered and planned to leave him. Brownfield murdered Mem at their home because she would not submit to him. He was sentenced to prison.

Grange returned home after Mem’s death. He took his granddaughter, Ruth, to live with him. Grange, now reformed, raised Ruth on a quiet farm. He taught her independence and self-respect. Brownfield was paroled. He tried to reclaim Ruth from Grange. In court, Grange shot Brownfield dead to protect Ruth. Grange sacrificed his freedom so Ruth could survive.

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