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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 is Trueblood's explanation of the rape of his daughter?

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

3. What is the narrator's explanation for taking Mr. Norton to the Golden Day?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the objective of Rev. Barbee's sermon?

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

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

4. In what way, according to the veteran, is the narrator likely to become a casualty?

5. What does Dr. Bledsoe mean by "acting the nigger."

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

In his last meeting with Hambro, the narrator is told that his own members--the blacks in Harlem--must be sacrificed for the good of the Brotherhood and that they will be making temporary alliances with other groups. Since the alliance with the blacks seems to have accomplished nothing for the blacks themselves, what was the purpose of the work in Harlem? Why did it fail? How did the alliance--if such it could be called--contribute to the riot?

Essay Topic 3

What is illusion? Can illusion be imposed upon a person without his consent? Can illusion be chosen so effectively that a person believes his own fancies? Discuss which characters are choosing to be deluded. Is the delusion helping or hurting their cause?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 910 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample