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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 was Senator Sunraider's childhood name?

2. What can Bliss see inside his tiny coffin?

3. What is Bliss wearing in his little coffin during the large Juneteenth revival?

4. What is the age group of the people who arrive in Washington, D.C. when the novel opens?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the boy in the senator's final hallucination tell him?

2. Why does Sister Georgia whisk Bliss away from the Juneteenth revival after Reverend Hickman and Sister Bearmasher take the crazy woman to jail?

3. What does Reverend Hickman tell Bliss the film world is a shadow of?

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

5. What makes Hickman realize he will have a life of bachelorhood?

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

7. Why is Sister Georgia hesitant to hug Bliss as a child?

8. What does Hickman think to himself about being given Bliss?

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

10. While lying on his deathbed, in what ways does the senator remember about the time he spent making movies?

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

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

Essay Topic 3

Discuss race and at least 3 specific ways in which race comes up in the novel. How does Ellison use race to tie into the novel's larger themes and message?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 582 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample