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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 does Malcolm do with Laura when he meets Sophia?

2. How far is the detention home from Lansing?

3. Which of the following characters is not a member of Malcolm's Boston gang?

4. How is Malcolm's father killed?

5. In what grade is Malcolm when he visits his sister for the first time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Malcolm find African American life like in Chapter 2?

2. Why does Malcolm think hustling is preferable to a normal, straight life?

3. Describe Malcolm's parents.

4. In what way is Malcolm disillusioned with life in Chapter 8?

5. Describe what Malcolm does when he meets a white woman in Chapter 4.

6. How does Malcolm avoid the draft?

7. What does Malcolm do when detectives began trailing him?

8. Why is Malcolm disappointed in the media's coverage of the Nation of Islam?

9. Why does Malcolm regret trying to change his hair into a conk style?

10. How did Malcolm deal with the trouble he has with Archie?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why did the slaves have their names changed upon arriving in America? What effect did it have on their families' identities?

Essay Topic 2

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the book's ideas?

2) Examine the way both Malcolm and Alex Haley use the other people in the story to express Malcolm's ideas.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss whether you think this statement is true or false: "Malcolm X uses the autobiography to market his image rather than his ideas." Use two examples from the book to support your argument.

(see the answer keys)

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