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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Before the discovery of a number of stories focused on urban environments, how many such stories by Zora Neale Hurston were previously thought to exist?
(a) 3.
(b) 0.
(c) 1.
(d) 5.

2. Who is Mr. Bronner, in relation to Sam within the story "The Conversion of Sam"?
(a) His tutor.
(b) His godfather.
(c) His boss.
(d) His teacher.

3. Which character in "Black Death" is identified as the local "conjure man" (101)?
(a) Elijah.
(b) Spunk.
(c) Old Man Morgan.
(d) John.

4. Every story in the collection Hitting a Straight Lick With a Crooked Stick belongs to which literary movement?
(a) Transcendentalism.
(b) Surrealism.
(c) The Harlem Renaissance.
(d) Romanticism.

5. In what year was Zora Neale Hurston's famous novel Their Eyes Were Watching God published?
(a) 1911.
(b) 1921.
(c) 1945.
(d) 1937.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which character ultimately decides to allow John's body to float down the river once it is obvious that he is dead?

2. What object belonging to her grandmother does Isis use as a festive outfit for dancing at the carnival?

3. At the start of the story "John Redding Goes to Sea," for how many years have Matty and Alfred been married?

4. Which character openly cavorts in the street with a married woman at the beginning of the story "Spunk"?

5. Near the end of the story "Magnolia Flower," it is stated that John and Magnolia Flower had gotten married how many years before?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the end of Bentley's life.

2. Who is Beau Diddely?

3. How does Joe Kanty meet his end in the story entitled "Spunk"?

4. In what way is gambling shown to negatively impact families within the story entitled "The Conversion of Sam"?

5. What is the main setting of the story "The Bone of Contention" and for what reason is the same setting represented within the story "Spunk" and others?

6. Describe the way in which the definition of courage is called into question within the story "Spunk."

7. What does the gate post symbolize within the story entitled "Drenched in Light"?

8. For what reason does John leave the house during a storm in the story entitled "John Redding Goes to Sea"?

9. What contrast between the white culture and the black culture does Hurston highlight within the opening of "Black Death"?

10. In what way does Hurston depict the difference between the two generations depicted in "Magnolia Flower"?

(see the answer keys)

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