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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Bigger do with the pamphlets Jan gave him the night before?
(a) He sits on the bed and reads them.
(b) He throws them in the trash.
(c) He goes to his room in the Dalton house and carefully puts them in his drawer.
(d) He burns them.

2. Why does Bessie finally agree to help Bigger with his kidnapping scam?
(a) He says he will give her half the money.
(b) He threatens to murder her family.
(c) She is greedy and wants in on the deal.
(d) He says he will leave her if she doesn't help him.

3. Where does Bigger first go after leaving his home the morning after Mary's murder?
(a) The Dalton's home
(b) Church
(c) Bessie's apartment
(d) The pool hall

4. While hidden Bigger reads a newspaper about the search for him. Why do the authorities still think Jan Erlone is the mastermind behind the entire murder and ransom?
(a) Because Mr. Dalton really liked Bigger and wanted to help him.
(b) Because Jan Erlone is a communist and they hate communists.
(c) Because Jan Erlone refused to be released and has signed a confession.
(d) Because coming up with such a detailed plan would be beyond the Negro mind.

5. The South Side Real Estate Company is what to Bigger?
(a) The company to whom he pays rent for his family's rat-infested room.
(b) The South Side Real Estate Company is nothing to Bigger.
(c) The company Bigger dreams of one day owning.
(d) The company where Bigger hopes to one day work.

6. When Bigger returns to the basement to shake down the ashes, what stops him?
(a) He sees that her body hasn't completely burned.
(b) The white cat stares at him and makes uncomfortable.
(c) He thinks he sees Mary's face as it looked the night before.
(d) He hears someone and is afraid they will see Mary's body.

7. What does Bigger begin to wish for all blacks?
(a) That one day blacks will one day be equal to whites.
(b) That they will one day make their own laws and rules.
(c) That someone will bring them together to make their lives better.
(d) That they will become superior to the whites and treat them like they have been treated.

8. After he returns to work at the Dalton house, what happens when Peggy asks Bigger to tend to the furnace because it has been running too hot?
(a) He hurries down the stairs to shake the ashes.
(b) He tells Peggy he will check the furnace later.
(c) He tells Peggy the furnace is fine, but he will check it anyway.
(d) He fears she suspects something and plans on how he will kill her if she discovers anything about Mary.

9. When Bigger nearly falls off the ledge, how does the writer describe what he would fall into if he had fallen?
(a) "A boiling pot of hatred."
(b) "An ocean of cheers from the spectators below."
(c) "An ocean of boiling hate."
(d) "The waiting arms of the police."

10. After Bigger returns to the Dalton home with Mary's trunk, he again goes to check the furnace. Who interrupts him?
(a) Mr. and Mrs. Dalton and Peggy.
(b) The police.
(c) Mr. Dalton and a group of white men.
(d) Mrs. Dalton and a white private investigator.

11. After he recalls killing Mary Dalton, what did Bigger realize he left in plain sight of his mother and his siblings?
(a) The knife
(b) His bloody clothing
(c) The pamphlets Jan gave him
(d) Mary's purse

12. How do the police finally catch Bigger?
(a) They use a water hose to soak him.
(b) They shoot him in the leg.
(c) They don't, he gets away one more time.
(d) An officer wrestles with him and wins.

13. What does Bigger do to Bessie after they go to the old building to hide?
(a) He smashes her head with a brick then runs away.
(b) He rapes her then cuts off her head like he did Mary's and throws her body down an air shaft.
(c) He rapes her then after she falls alseep kills her with a brick then throws her body down an air shaft.
(d) He sleeps then awakens realizing he must kill Bessie.

14. What does Peggy decide must have happened to Mary?
(a) Mary probably waited for Bigger to leave then snuck out of the house again.
(b) To Bigger's shock she told him that Mary has lost her head since dating Jan Erlone.
(c) Mary probably left earlier than expected because she is usually unpredictable.
(d) There must have been some kind of foul play because Mary is usally very responsible.

15. In Book Two Bigger is feeling very confident and powerful, except when he sleeps and dreams. What does he dream about after his first meeting with Britten.
(a) All are correct.
(b) He is carrying a package that turns out to be his own severed, bloddy head wrapped in paper.
(c) He tries to run from the blood, the coal, and white faces.
(d) A church bell that turns out to be a warning bell urging him to hide himself and his package.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Bigger sign the ransom note he has written to Mr. Dalton?

2. What happens after Jan Erlone sees Bigger on the street and offers to help him, then invites him out for coffee to talk about the situation?

3. When Peggy finds Mary is not in her room what does she question Bigger about it, and what does he tell her?

4. How does Bigger feel committing murder has changed his life?

5. What happens when Bigger arrives at Bessie's apartment and he tries to kiss her?

(see the answer keys)

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