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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. Where were Jesse and his parents leaving from when his dad was singing the song that Jesse gets stuck in his head?

2. What does Jesse tell his wife about when he can't sleep?

3. What common bond do Ruth and Mr. Davis have?

4. Where is the narrator's sister from in This Morning, This Evening, So Soon?

5. Where did the teacher's wife learn Sonny was not going, during his stay while the teacher was overseas?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who feels guilty about Sonny's drug use?

2. In Sonny's Blues, why did the teacher's mother tell Sonny the story about his uncle's death?

3. What does the narrator realize at the end of This Morning, This Evening, So Soon?

4. What does Ruth realize at the end of Come Out the Wilderness?

5. How does the teacher react to Sonny's imprisonment?

6. What happened to the teacher's uncle and why is it significant?

7. Describe Ruth's work situation in Come Out the Wilderness.

8. What does Ruth think about as she accepts her new job offer?

9. What did Jesse see in his mother and father's face when he was 8 years old?

10. In Going to Meet the Man, describe Jesse's memory from his childhood.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and explain what Baldwin suggests about a black woman's personal needs and also her placement in society in his story Come Out the Wilderness.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss and detail how the setting of Previous Condition is particularly important to the events that take place in the story.

Essay Topic 3

Thinking of The Rockpile describe and explain the element and importance of rebellion in the story.

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