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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. Daphne convinces Easy to drive her to which friend’s house in Chapter 13?

2. Where is Easy Rawlins from originally?

3. How much money does a white man offer to Easy to help him get into John’s Place in Chapter 4?

4. What color hair is Mr. Albright said to have in the novel?

5. How much money does Coretta make Easy promise to give her as a reward when he finds the white woman he’s searching for in Chapter 6?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is the “door person” at John’s Place? What does Easy learn from this character in Chapter 4?

2. What are Easy’s initial impressions of Matthew Teran in Chapter 11?

3. How does Easy feel about going to the Santa Monica pier in Chapter 8? Whom does he first meet there?

4. Who does Easy meet with in Chapter 9? What happens during this meeting?

5. From what narrative point of view is the story related? What is notable about this style?

6. How does Easy deal with his encounter with the first security guard at Albright’s office in Chapter 3? Why?

7. What does Easy learn about Navrochet’s murder in the flashback in Chapter 4?

8. What does Easy (and the reader) learn from Junior Fornay in Chapter 4?

9. What led Easy to volunteer for combat in the flashback in Chapter 14? How does he describe this choice?

10. What aspect of Easy’s character is revealed through his interactions with Coretta in Chapter 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the characters of Maxim Baxter and Todd Carter in Devil in a Blue Dress. How does Easy relate to each of these characters? What makes Easy believe that Todd Carter is not a danger to Daphne Monet? Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Analyze and discuss the characters of Pete Dupree and Coretta James in the narrative. How does Easy feel about each of these characters? Where does Easy know Dupree from? What happens to each of these characters in the course of the story?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and analyze the character of Odell Jones in the novel. How does the narrator describe Odell? What is Easy’s history with the character? What does Odell represent symbolically in the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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