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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 the congregation pressure Richard and other boys to do?

2. What does Richard do to gain acceptance at his new school?

3. What city does Alan move to?

4. Where does RIchard want to move to?

5. Why does Richard hesitate in engaging in thievery in the hotel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Richard first find his love for books?

2. What does Richard eat for his meals in Jackson?

3. What does Richard think about the popular contention that black people lead passionate, emotional lives?

4. How does Richard's boss respond when Richard tells him he was bitten by his dog?

5. How does Richard cut his ear?

6. What does the family decide is the best way to care for Richard and his brother?

7. Why can Richard not keep his promise to his mother not to fight white children?

8. Why does Richard dislike his job with the white family?

9. Why does Richard fight his Uncle Tom?

10. How does Richard's mother punish him for burning down the house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine violence in the novel.

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

2) 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 2

Examine the differences between the Jim Crow system and slavery.

1) What were the differences between the Jim Crow system and slavery?

2) In what way does Wright present the Jim Crow system as hypocritical and no better than slavery?

Essay Topic 3

Examine black femininity.

1) In what did the whites oppress black femininity?

2) How did the white man's oppression of black femininity affect black women?

3) How have black women reacted to the oppression of their femininity?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 750 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample