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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Smithers talk to the old woman about in the first scene?
(a) Where Emperor Jones hid his food.
(b) Where she is going.
(c) Where the other whites have gone.
(d) When the natives are going to kill Emperor Jones.

2. What is Jeff doing when Emperor Jones sees him?
(a) Threatening to shoot Jones.
(b) Shooting craps.
(c) Running through the forest.
(d) Shooting a prison guard.

3. How does Jeff's appearance affect Jones' flight?
(a) He makes Jones desperate to escape from himself.
(b) He thinks that he can go back to America and make everything right.
(c) He feels that if he can just escape from the island he will be safe.
(d) He feels that he will not escape from his past, no matter how far he runs.

4. The black figures that Emperor Jones sees in the first forest scene are amused by what?
(a) Emperor Jones' clothing.
(b) Emperor Jones' language.
(c) Emperor Jones' gun.
(d) Emperor Jones' panic.

5. Why was Emperor Jones foolish to have fired his gun in the forest?
(a) The natives will know where he is.
(b) He is wasting his last remaining bullets.
(c) He is killing natives and angering native leaders.
(d) He is ruining the palace.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the first thing Emperor Jones asks Smithers?

2. Emperor Jones sees a group of figures in Act 1, Scene 4. What happens when the leader of that group turns his back to Emperor Jones?

3. What is the basis for Smithers' authority in the palace?

4. Which literary term defines Jeff's apparition?

5. What color is the throne?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the audience learn about Emperor Jones from the apparition he sees in Act 1, Scene 4?

2. Why was Emperor Jones foolish to fire his gun at the formless fears?

3. Describe Emperor Jones' appearance in the first scene.

4. How long has Emperor Jones been walking when the second forest scene begins?

5. How does Jones break the spell of the apparition in the fifth forest scene?

6. Describe Emperor Jones' state of mind in the second scene.

7. What are two explanations for the identity of the chain gang?

8. How does the tom-tom drumming change during the course of the fourth forest scene?

9. Explain how Emperor Jones attained his authority over the natives.

10. Some of Emperor Jones' apparitions are racial memories. What does this conclusion say about the state or the future of the black race?

(see the answer keys)

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