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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 does Silas find on the quilt?

2. Who does Taylor say wants to take over the church?

3. What does Chief Bruden greet Taylor as?

4. Why does Sue not trust Booker?

5. Where did Sarah kiss Tom for the first time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sarah think about on the hillside?

2. What does Sue see when she first gains consciousness?

3. How does the sheriff break Johnny's ear drum?

4. Why does Silas get angry in Chapter 15?

5. What does Brother Bond say has happened to the Communists?

6. What did Sue used to believe in?

7. What are Hadley and Green worried about in Chapter 18?

8. What do the white men do to Taylor while he lies in the car?

9. What does Taylor instruct his wife to do in Chapter 18?

10. What idea does Sue have in Chapter 25?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Wright's life. In what way do you think his life and personality are reflected in the book? How important was Wright in changing representations of black people?

Essay Topic 2

Examine violence in the novel.

1) What are differences in the stories between how black people are violent and how white people are violent?

2) In what way does the violence play an important part in getting Wright's view across?

3) How do the students think the public reacted to the novel's violence when it was first published? How would the public react to such a book today?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss differences between the novel and short story formats. What are the main elements of a novel? What are the main elements of an short story? What can Wright not express in a short story that he can in a novel? How does Wright use these limitations to his advantage?

(see the answer keys)

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