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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Lem tell Smithers when Smithers does not believe what he tells him in the final scene?

2. Where does Emperor Jones go at the end of the fifth forest scene?

3. What does Smithers ask Emperor Jones after the natives bring him in during the final scene?

4. What apparition does Emperor Jones see in this fourth forest scene?

5. Where does Emperor Jones go at the end of the fourth forest scene?

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

What are the different justifications for authority in Emperor Jones? Does the play shift from one kind of authority to another? Citing specific examples from the script, describe the different claims to authority in Emperor Jones.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 345 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample