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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What negative stereotype does the character Carmen Jones perpetuate?

2. According to Baldwin, how does the book Native Son obliterate the good will of the people as a whole?

3. What has made some changes in the face of the Negro?

4. What two big name magazines, popular in the African American community in the 1940s, are mentioned in the chapter entitled The Harlem Ghetto?

5. According to Baldwin, if black faces cannot be made white then what other way can they be changed in order to be less offensive to white society?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Baldwin's relationship with his father.

2. How does Baldwin describe the American student colony in Paris?

3. Describe Baldwin's relationship with his new friend that he meets in Paris in the essay Equal in Paris.

4. Describe the Swiss village that Baldwin visits in the essay Stranger in the Village.

5. Why is the American Negro envious of the French African?

6. Why do you think Baldwin experiences a sense of melancholy after his father's death?

7. Describe Baldwin's tone in Everybody's Protest Novel.

8. Who was Clarence Warde and what role did he play in the Journey to Atlanta?

9. Describe Baldwin's first experience with real-world hatred.

10. What are some of the limitations that make it hard for Baldwin to tolerate the French prison system?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Baldwin writes about the struggle for African Americans to find their own identity in the United States. Based on Baldwin's essays, do you think African Americans will be able to find their identity as American citizens or will they always have to "escape" in order to try to find their identity? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

In Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin makes reference to stereotypical and unrealistic black characters such as Aunt Jemima, Uncle Tom, and Carmen Jones. In your opinion, do these stereotypical figures represent the story of America? If so, how do these images represent the story of America? How do these images represent the lives of African Americans? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Baldwin describes his relationship with his father in Notes of a Native Son. After his father's death, Baldwin feels a sense of melancholy that he never had a chance to bond with his father. Why do you think Baldwin feels this way? What regrets, if any, do you think Baldwin had at the end of his father's life? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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