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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator lack in Chapter 12?
(a) A sense of direction
(b) motivation to keep going
(c) his interest in returning to college
(d) money to live on

2. What unexpected sight does the narrator see in New York?
(a) many policemen
(b) people from many nationalities
(c) half-naked white women
(d) many black people

3. Ellison's original story was written about which of the following?
(a) A slave
(b) A sharecropper
(c) An African American author
(d) An African American pilot

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

5. What kind of speeches has the narrator given from the stage in the chapel?
(a) Phony speeches with notes supplied by white men.
(b) Genuine speeches that expressed how he felt.
(c) Speeches that expressed his frustration in cultural symbolism.
(d) Speeches that flattered the whites.

6. Where does the road in the college town ultimately lead?
(a) To a mental institution
(b) To a chapel
(c) To a statue
(d) To the college

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

8. What does Dr. Bledsoe call the narrator?
(a) an educated fool
(b) a slave
(c) a liar
(d) a traitor

9. The concept of the character as invisible is symbolic of which of the following conditions?
(a) Whites are morally blind to the checks and balances imposed on the African Americans.
(b) There are so many people like the hero that no one notices them.
(c) The character has deliberately denied his true place in society.
(d) The character does not understand the truth of his situation.

10. What is the narrator's explanation for taking Mr. Norton to the Golden Day?
(a) Mr. Norton ordered him to go there
(b) Mr. Norton was driving
(c) He thought he could get medical help there
(d) The car was out of gas.

11. Why does the Reverend Barbee trip over Dr. Bledsoe?
(a) Dr. Bledsoe forgets to pull his legs back
(b) Someone distracts Reverend Barbee
(c) Reverend Barbee isn't watching where he is going.
(d) Reverend Barbee is blind.

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

13. What procedure is performed on the narrator?
(a) mind control implants
(b) both castration and a lobotomy
(c) castration
(d) a prefrontal lobotomy

14. What was the topic of the narrator's graduation day speech?
(a) Humilty
(b) Courage
(c) Equality
(d) Racial pride

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) The other workers went on strike
(d) No one else would take the job

Short Answer Questions

1. What had Mr. Trueblood done prior to his disgrace?

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

3. In addition to his memories, what else has the narrator lost?

4. Why does Mary Rambo want to take the narrator home?

5. How does Mr. Norton explain the day's events?

(see the answer keys)

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