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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 makes Emperor Jones laugh at the beginning of the second forest scene?

2. Which literary style describes the scenes in which Emperor Jones sees apparitions?

3. How do the figures that Emperor Jones sees in the forest move?

4. What does this third apparition tell us about Jones' past?

5. Who tried but failed to kill Emperor Jones?

Short Essay Questions

1. What irony does Smithers point out in the final scene?

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

3. How does Emperor Jones dispel the apparition in Act 1, Scene 7?

4. How are the formless fears manifested on stage?

5. Contrast Emperor Jones' status in the first scene with his status at the end of the sixth forest scene.

6. What happens at the beginning of the second forest scene to ease Emperor Jones' fears?

7. What is Smithers' relationship to Emperor Jones?

8. Which characters talk about Jones in the final scene? What do they say?

9. How have the natives prepared to kill Emperor Jones?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The witch doctor dances in front of Emperor Jones and he makes it clear that Jones is a force of evil and he should be sacrificed. How is evil defined in the play? Are there different definitions? Does one definition prevail over the others? Do you think that the author agrees with any one particular character's ideas of evil?

Essay Topic 2

Henry Smithers is the only white man in the play, and the witch doctor and Lem and the old woman in the first scene are the only natives with speaking roles. Compare and contrast the roles of the white and black characters. How are they the same? How are they different? What difference does skin color make in this play? What can Smithers do that the natives cannot, and vice versa? Are these characters presented as individuals, or as typifying their respective races?

Essay Topic 3

Emperor Jones is haunted by scenes from America's slave-holding history. How is Emperor Jones in the same position as the slaves? How is his situation different?

(see the answer keys)

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