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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 item does the young senator demand be in the coffin with him?

2. What kind of traditional preaching style do Bliss and Reverend Hickman have?

3. Who blocks the group's ability to see Senator Sunraider in D.C.?

4. What kind of events does Laly host in her home for Bliss?

5. What analogy does Ellison use to describe Laly and Bliss's love?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Brer Rabbit?

2. What kinds of literary techniques does Ellison use when describing Senator Sunraider's childhood memories as he lay dying in his hospital bed?

3. What does Hickman consider his permanent home?

4. In what ways does Senator Sunraider, while in his hospital bed, remember his childhood?

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

6. Why does Sister Georgia think she is most qualified to take care of Bliss after the incident at the Juneteenth revival?

7. Why is Bliss so obsessed about the image of the movie actress?

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

9. What advice does the reverend give Bliss about shadows and light?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss at least 3 meanings of the novel's title, using direct evidence from the text when appropriate.

Essay Topic 2

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 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)

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