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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which literary term describes the apparition in the fourth forest scene?

2. What has the forest come to symbolize over the course of the five forest scenes so far?

3. How does the tone of the fifth forest scene change?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Emperor Jones uses violence to solve certain problems in his life, but he is brought down by an act of violence himself. Compare and contrast his murder of Jeff and his murder by the natives. How are they similar? How are they different? Is one act of violence equivalent to another? Is one more or less just than the other?

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

What is the moral of Emperor Jones? Does the play teach a moral? If you think it does, describe how that lesson is presented. If you think that it does not, what does it teach us, if not a moral?

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This section contains 337 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample