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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. How does the narrator get past the drunken vet in the road?

2. What does the narrator want to do in Chapter 12?

3. What does the narrator credit for his "call to action"?

4. In spite of losing his identity, what does the narrator retain?

5. Which of the following represents the narrator's philosophy?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What literary device is used in Chapter 4?

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

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

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

8. What does the narrator notice while waiting for his appointment with the trustees?

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

10. Why was the narrator doomed to fail at the paint factory?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

On several different occasions, the narrator speaks directly to the reader, ending in his epilogue with "perhaps I speak for you...." Who do you think Ellison imagined as his most likely audience? If the various groups of people in the book could be allegorical representations of cultural groups--i.e. college administrators, blue collar employers, political party leaders, low income minority groups, etc.--what message would they perceive in the novel? Choose two or three different groups and tell how the story might speak to each of them.

Essay Topic 2

Music or singing occur several times in the novel and the narrator himself refers to Armstrong. Explain how music contributes to the overall plot of the novel. Consider not only the narrator's private thoughts about music, but also the music in the chapel in Chapter 2, the music at the Brotherhood party, the man singing at Clifton's funeral, and others.

Essay Topic 3

Early in the novel, the graduating black boys are deliberately used as cruel sport for the white men at a club. Norton is at the club with all the other white men. Norton does not care about the black boys any more than anyone else does. Therefore, what is his purpose at the college? Explain the things that Mr. Norton and Brother Jack have in common.

(see the answer keys)

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