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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 use to travel for free?

2. What does Malcolm say Hymie is involved in?

3. What does Malcolm do with Laura when he meets Sophia?

4. What does Malcolm notice about the white men he escorts into Harlem?

5. How is Malcolm's father killed?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Malcolm change his surname from Small to X?

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

3. What is the main thing Malcolm says he gets out of dating a white woman?

4. What does Malcolm learn about skin color during his pilgrimage?

5. Why is it difficult for Haley to be a dispassionate chronicler of Malcolm's life?

6. How does Malcolm feel about the way he treats Laura in Chapter 3?

7. How would Malcolm turn around his life?

8. In what way does Malcolm go about helping to change the Nation of Islam in Chapter 12?

9. What does Alex Haley write in this chapter,written after Malcolm's death?

10. In what way are Malcolm's problems getting worse in Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine racism in America. How has it changed? How much do the students think Malcolm X was responsible for this change? Do you think racism still exists? How can we rid the world of racism? How long would it take?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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