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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Trueblood's explanation of the rape of his daughter?
(a) His wife forced him into it.
(b) His daughter dliberately seduced him.
(c) He confused his wife with his daughter because they were all in the same bed.
(d) He acted in a dream and didn't know what he was doing.

2. Where does the narrator find himself in chapter 11?
(a) the factory hospital
(b) a mental ward
(c) a hospital
(d) a prison

3. What makes the narrator homesick when he first gets to New York?
(a) the sight of other black people
(b) a message from Mr. Norton
(c) the letters he carries
(d) a Gideon Bible

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

5. The veteran doctor claims to have been beaten for what?
(a) getting drunk
(b) saving a life
(c) failing to fulfil his duty
(d) returning to the states

6. Who else is on the bus to New York?
(a) Mr. Trueblood
(b) no one
(c) another student
(d) the veteran doctor

7. What does the narrator fear is the reason for his inability to get an appointment with the trustees?
(a) He fears there may not be any jobs after all.
(b) He thinks no one is seeing the letters he submitted.
(c) He fears a conspiracy.
(d) He thinks the secretaries are not telling him the truth.

8. In spite of losing his identity, what does the narrator retain?
(a) a desire for revenge
(b) an urgency to find a job
(c) his naive outlook on life
(d) the memory of Mr. Norton

9. How is the paint symbolic?
(a) It symbolizes purity and correctness
(b) It symbolizes society's ability to cover evils
(c) It symbolizes work and success
(d) It is white, reminding the narrator of the slogan, Keep America Pure with Liberty Paints.

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

11. What bit of advice from the young Mr. Emerson does the narrator actually heed?
(a) to forget about Mr. Bledsoe
(b) to call Liberty Paints and ask for a job
(c) to return to the college
(d) to realize that he has no identity

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

13. In chapter 9, the narrator walks a short distance with another man. What is the man doing besides singing?
(a) Carrying blueprints
(b) leading a dog
(c) carrying a suitcase
(d) eating

14. The narrator's pondering of his upcoming punishment is an example of what literary device?
(a) foreshadowing
(b) suspense
(c) symbolism
(d) allusion

15. What would the narrator like to add to his "hole"?
(a) a phonograph player
(b) a kitchen
(c) four more radio-phonographs
(d) a TV set

Short Answer Questions

1. The image of the slave owners bidding for a naked girl is

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

3. Where does the road in the college town ultimately lead?

4. Which of the following two concepts, in combination, does Ellison see as a "raft of hope."

5. What, ironically, makes the narrator's white bosses distrustful of him?

(see the answer keys)

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