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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 had the narrator's grandfather learned to accept?

2. What decision does the narrator accept for the time period that will be needed to clear the charges against him?

3. What fault does Emma find with the narrator?

4. What does the narrator notice at the funeral that he would like to exploit?

5. In Chapter 14, why is Mary cooking cabbage?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain why the "woman question" is typical of the Brotherhood's approach to issues.

2. How does the narrator really feel about the gift of the chain from Brother Tarp?

3. What is meant by "white fever"?

4. Why is the narrator's work on the "woman question" cut short?

5. Why does Jack become angry with the man who asks the narrator to sing a "spiritual"?

6. What is the narrator's intention in speaking up for the black couple who have been evicted?

7. In what way could the new shoes be symbolic?

8. What is the significance of the black thread that controls the dancing doll?

9. Why does Brother Jack defend the narrator at this point?

10. How does Emma's conversation create a sense of foreboding?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several times the narrator recalls his grandfather's dying words. Discuss the situations in which the narrator recalls his grandfather, showing how he reacts to those memories upon different occasions.

Essay Topic 2

Explain why the Brotherhood chooses the narrator. What factors have made him particularly vulnerable to their approach? How do his own intentions change as he begins working with them?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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