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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. Which literary term describes Emperor Jones' vision of Jeff?

2. Where does Emperor Jones go at the end of this first scene outside the palace?

3. Who are the figures Emperor Jones sees working in this third forest scene?

4. What does Emperor Jones hear in the forest?

5. What happens when Emperor Jones rings for the servants?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How well prepared is Emperor Jones for the experience of fleeing the palace?

3. What effect does Emperor Jones create by stripping off his clothes?

4. What is the significance of Emperor Jones' clothing in the fifth forest scene?

5. Before he sees Jeff, Emperor Jones surveys himself and assesses his plight. How does he feel about his situation?

6. How is Emperor Jones different in the palace than he was when he was in America?

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

8. In what way is Emperor Jones' situation ironic?

9. Describe the apparition Emperor Jones sees in the sixth forest scene.

10. What is Smithers' relationship to Emperor Jones?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What do we know about characters through how they speak? How does Emperor Jones' speech change throughout the play? What does the change in his speech tell us about his experience? What other voices do we hear? Do they change as well?

Essay Topic 2

How was Emperor Jones received in America when it premiered in 1929? What does it tell us about America in 1929 that it got the responses it did? What does it tell us about how blacks were treated in America at the time?

Essay Topic 3

Emperor Jones is almost offered up as a sacrifice to the crocodile. What else is sacrificed in the play? Describe three sacrifices. What is given up? What does the sacrificer hope to obtain in return?

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