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

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

3. In addition to his memories, what else has the narrator lost?
(a) his fear
(b) his motivation
(c) his cash
(d) his strength

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

5. What does Trueblood's story suggest about the white men at the jail house?
(a) They secretly enjoyed hearing his story.
(b) They didn't believe his story.
(c) They were horrified by his story and tried to get him to move.
(d) They were angry and kept him in town as an example of how not to behave.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Ellison, which of the following is important for perseverance?

2. In chapter 9, the narrator walks a short distance with another man. What is the man doing besides singing?

3. What procedure is performed on the narrator?

4. The narrator's pondering of his upcoming punishment is an example of what literary device?

5. Why is the narrator unable to see Mr. Bates?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Mary Rambo want the narrator to do?

2. Why do the people at the Men's House treat him with hostility?

3. What mistake does the veteran doctor predict the narrator will make?

4. Describe Dr. Bledsoe.

5. Why does the trip to the Trueblood house make the narrator feel uncomfortable?

6. Why does the narrator say he is invisible?

7. How was the narrator's graduation speech a betrayal of black people?

8. What does the veteran at the Golden Day understand that the narrator does not?

9. How has the narrator ended up in the factory hospital? How is he being treated once he gets there?

10. Who are the sleeping ones?

(see the answer keys)

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