View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the narrator excuse his lack of responsibility?
(a) Because he is invisible, he doesn't know what responsibility to take
(b) Responsibility cannot happen without recognition
(c) No one has ever given him responsibility
(d) The downtrodden should not be expected to assume responsibility

2. How does the narrator describe the students as they enter the chapel?
(a) They enter the chapel joyfully.
(b) They enter with the love a captured people has for their conquerors.
(c) They enter with dread and hesitation.
(d) They enter the chapel with resentment and fear.

3. Which of the following two concepts, in combination, does Ellison see as a "raft of hope."
(a) democracy and truth
(b) compassion and equality
(c) equality and art
(d) art and democracy

4. What does the narrator tell Mr. Emerson that he wants to do with his future?
(a) remain quietly in New York
(b) become Mr. Bledsoe's assistant
(c) become a teacher
(d) get a high paying position in the city

5. The main conflict of Ellison's original story revolves around
(a) racial tension
(b) national poverty
(c) imperialism
(d) problems associated with war

6. According to the vet, who controls "things"?
(a) white, upper-class males
(b) rich people
(c) white people
(d) black people

7. The dark tunnel is symbolic of the narrator's
(a) lack of understanding about culture and society as a whole
(b) unwillingness to face the truth
(c) lack of knowledge about himself
(d) invisible nature in relation to white people

8. What does the man in Emerson's office imply after reading the letter given him by the narrator?
(a) That Mr. Emerson is the wrong person to help the narrator.
(b) That the narrator is in fact someone else.
(c) That that narrator has already seen Mr. Emerson.
(d) That the narrator wrote the letters himself

9. The narrator considers himself an invisible man because ____________________.
(a) people subconsciously ignore him
(b) people refuse to see him with their inner eyes
(c) people can't see him
(d) people don't understand him

10. What does Mr. Norton give to Trueblood?
(a) A bottle of whiskey
(b) A hundred dollar bill
(c) A lecture on morality
(d) Nothing

11. What is most unusual about the narrator's residence?
(a) It is free
(b) It is in a basement
(c) It is filled with over 1300 light bulbs
(d) It is a white apartment house

12. According to Reverend Barbee, why does Dr. Bledsoe enjoy a position of apparent power?
(a) The Founder and Bledsoe were related.
(b) The Founder told Reverend Barbee that Bledsoe deserved the position.
(c) The Founder, with his dying breath, asked Bledsoe to continue in his leadership
(d) Dr. Bledsoe had performed favors for the Founder.

13. The narrator's need to give speeches is an example of what literary device?
(a) audio imagery
(b) irony
(c) foreshadowing
(d) suspense

14. How does the narrator's grandfather regard his own meekness?
(a) He is proud of his choices.
(b) He considers himself a traitor.
(c) He considers himself a victim
(d) He considers himself a coward.

15. According to Mr. Brockway, what happened when the company tried to replace him?
(a) All the paint went bad
(b) The union went to bat for him.
(c) No one else would take the job
(d) The other workers went on strike

Short Answer Questions

1. Ellison's primary struggle in writing the book was

2. What is the narrator afraid of losing?

3. What makes the narrator homesick when he first gets to New York?

4. What is the narrator's explanation for taking Mr. Norton to the Golden Day?

5. What does the narrator see as he is watching people leave the chapel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 635 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample