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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 rhyme does Bowlegs create to make fun of Bliss?

2. What do Laly and Bliss do while on a picnic lunch one Sunday afternoon?

3. What does Bliss hear while he is inside his coffin during the large Juneteenth revival?

4. Who is Sister Bearmasher?

5. How is Senator Sunraider assassinated?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Reverend Hickman pulls Bliss off of the little clown outside of the tent, what is all over Bliss's hands?

2. What great hope does Reverend Hickman continue to cling to for Senator Sunraider, even as he lay dying?

3. How does Hickman encourage Senator Sunraider to come to peace with the fact that he was preaching at such a young age?

4. When Senator Sunraider is remembering being bullied as a child, he described himself as reproaching the bully with "all the four horses galloping in my eyes." To what horses is he referring?

5. Who is Brer Rabbit?

6. How does Reverend Hickman feel about the Juneteenth holiday?

7. Why does Bliss think his teddy bear is so brave?

8. At what moment does Hickman realize his life is really going to change?

9. How does Bliss comfort himself when he thinks about being trapped in the coffin?

10. What does the reverend wish for Bliss as he sits watching him in his hospital bed?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the function of the characters of Karp and Donelson in the novel? Make sure to at mention at least 3 examples to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Choose at least 3 female characters from Juneteenth and discuss how each one contributes to the larger role that Ellison gives to women in the novel.

Essay Topic 3

Is Reverend Hickman a "good" character or a "bad" character? Provide at least 3 examples from the novel to support your position.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 638 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample