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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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?
(a) Jan Erlone runs away when he sees Bigger has a knife.
(b) Bigger runs away.
(c) Bigger tells Jan Erlone he doesn't need his help.
(d) Bigger pulls a gun on Jan Erlone.

2. What happens when one of the men discovers bone and an earring in the ashes?
(a) He jumps out of a second story windown into the snow then runs to Bessie's apartment.
(b) Bigger slips away from the men then jumps out of a second story window into the snow.
(c) He jumps out a window and hurts his knee, so he has to walk slowly to Bessie's apartment.
(d) Bigger sneaks out of the basement door and runs to Bessie's apartment.

3. As Bigger tells his fabricated story about the previous evening to Mr. Dalton and Britten, what is he feeling?
(a) Like he is the one in control because he is telling them what he wants them to believe.
(b) So proud of his story he thinks of becoming a fiction writer.
(c) Worried they will find something in his story that doesn't ring true.
(d) Afraid they won't believe him and that he'll be under suspicion.

4. After Bigger leaves Bessie and returns to the Dalton's house what does Peggy tell him to do and why?
(a) Go to the train station and find out what has happened to Mary's trunk.
(b) She tells him to take the day off because everyone is too worried about Mary to need his services that day.
(c) Go the the train station and pick up Mary's trunk because no one claimed it.
(d) To take the trunk to the attic because the Dalton's will start worrying about Mary if they see it.

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

6. Why does Mr. Dalton refuse to have Jan Erlone picked up by the police for questioning?
(a) He doesn't think Jan Erlone has anything to do with it.
(b) He is afraid of the bad publicity.
(c) He doesn't want the police invovled because doesn't trust them.
(d) He's afraid his daughter is just doing this to disgrace the family.

7. In Book Two as Bigger rides the streetcar, what is his only regret?
(a) That he had to work.
(b) That he ever got mixed up with the Dalton's in the first place.
(c) That he hadn't planned the murder so he could have gotten more money and felt more successful.
(d) That Mary's body didn't fit in the furnace. He hated all the blood when he cut off her head.

8. 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) Mrs. Dalton and a white private investigator.
(d) Mr. Dalton and a group of white men.

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

10. Bigger finally shakes down the ashes, but he doesn't remove them from the furnace, he just adds more coal. What happens then?
(a) The room fill with smoke so Bigger has to get a fan to blow it out the basement window.
(b) The fire starts to get hot again.
(c) The fire goes out and Bigger must restart it.
(d) The fire is smothered and the basement fills with smoke.

11. Who is Britten?
(a) A neighbor who saw Bigger carrying Mary into the house the night before.
(b) A private investigator Mr. Dalton hired that day to find Mary.
(c) A detective with the Chicago P.D..
(d) A private investigator from Mr. Dalton's company.

12. What is Bigger's only regret about what he did to Bessie?
(a) He regrets she didn't see things his way.
(b) He has no regrets.
(c) He didn't take back his engagement ring.
(d) He left $90 in her pocket.

13. How does Bigger feel committing murder has changed his life?
(a) He feels powerful and ready to kill again.
(b) He feels it has opened the door to opportunity.
(c) It has given meaning to his life.
(d) He is afraid he will spend the rest of his life on the run.

14. What does the white cat do while Bigger is being questioned by the police and reporters?
(a) Jumps on his shoulder and digs in its claws.
(b) Sits staring intently at Bigger.
(c) Jumps on his shoulder, then walks around his feet.
(d) It keeps looking from the furnace to Bigger and back again.

15. What happens when Bigger climbs another ledge on the rooftop and beings crawling away?
(a) He buries himself in snow so they don't see him.
(b) He gets away.
(c) He hides behind a chimney.
(d) He is spotted.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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.

2. What things does Mrs. Dalton question Bigger about when she comes to his room?

3. When Bigger nearly falls off the ledge, how does the writer describe what he would fall into if he had fallen?

4. What does Bigger say when Bessie asks if he murdered Mary Dalton?

5. What does Bigger finally do after wandering the streets looking for food and shelter?

(see the answer keys)

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