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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Why does the vet want the narrator to hear his story?

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

4. Why does the narrator dump slush on a man's head?

5. The narrator considers himself an invisible man because ____________________.

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Mr. Norton give Jim Trueblood $100?

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

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

4. What surprises the narrator upon his arrival in Harlem?

5. What favor does the young Mr. Emerson do for the narrator?

6. What does Ellison mean when he says that for African Americans, all wars are "wars within wars."

7. What lie does Dr. Bledsoe expect the narrator to tell?

8. To what kind of action has music called the narrator?

9. Explain the irony of the sign "Keep American Pure with Liberty Paints."

10. What does the narrator expect from his visit with Mr. Bates?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Being invisible can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. By the end of the novel, how does the narrator intend to use his invisibility? Is the state of being invisible to the inner eye of other people something that can be changed? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 2

What does the narrator mean when he talks about "existing outside of history"? Where does he envision himself by the end of the story? Since he never tells us his name, has he ultimately clarified or further obscured his self-discovery and identity?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the symbolism of the following items: the figurine bank, the dark glasses, the briefcase, the dancing dolls, the piece of chain.

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