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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. How does Mrs. Dalton look when she comes to Bigger's room to question him about Mary's disappearance?
(a) She's wearing a white pants suit and has her white hair tied back in a bun.
(b) She's dressed in white and she looks suspicious.
(c) She's wearing black because she knows Mary is dead.
(d) She's dressed in white and she is very pale.

3. Before Bigger puts more coal on the fire, what is he certain he sees in the furnace?
(a) The shape of Mary's body beneath the coals.
(b) He can't see anything because the light it out.
(c) The white cat watching him again.
(d) Peggy watching from the top of the stairs.

4. What are Bigger's plans for the kidnapping farce?
(a) But $100,000 in a shoe box that will be dropped and Bessie will retrieve.
(b) Have $10,000 put in a shoe box that will be dropped and Bessie will retrieve.
(c) Put $1,000 in a hat box that Bessie will retrieve.
(d) Put $100,000 in a hat box that he will retrieve.

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

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

7. What goes through Bigger's mind when he hears the music from the church?
(a) He hates the music and can't wait to find another apartment.
(b) He hums along, but feeling to peace he gets angry.
(c) He half wishes he was a believer like his mother, but doesn't want to give up his sense of self.
(d) He wishes he could be with his mother.

8. What happens when Bigger first awakens the morning after the murder?
(a) He tries to sneak out of the house unnoticed.
(b) He sees his brother, Buddy, staring at him suspiciously.
(c) He remembers everything he did the night before.
(d) He doesn't think about what happened the night before.

9. 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 fire is smothered and the basement fills with smoke.
(b) The fire starts to get hot again.
(c) The room fill with smoke so Bigger has to get a fan to blow it out the basement window.
(d) The fire goes out and Bigger must restart it.

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

11. In book two, how do the reporters decide to frame their stories?
(a) That the negros want to be left alone and the communists forcing their beliefs on them.
(b) That negros are becomming more involved with communisim.
(c) That the communists have plotted the kidnapping and are blaming it on Bigger.
(d) That the communists and the negros are working together to get the ransom.

12. What did Buddy tell Bigger happened the night before?
(a) That Bigger's girlfriend, Bessie, came to see him and that she was angry he wasn't there.
(b) That their mother was happy he got the job.
(c) That Bigger's girlfriend, Bessie, came to see him the night before and talked about marriage.
(d) That he would keep quiet for a price.

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

14. What does Bigger say when Bessie asks if he murdered Mary Dalton?
(a) He denies killing Mary, but admits he stole money from her.
(b) He laughs and says Mary killed herself by jumping in the river and he just watched.
(c) He admits that he killed Mary and threatens Bessie, too.
(d) He admits that he killed Mary and tells Bessie he'll tell everyone she helped him.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Where does Bigger place the ransom note to be certain Mr. Dalton gets it?

3. Where does Bigger first go after leaving his home the morning after Mary's murder?

4. 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?

5. Who is Britten?

(see the answer keys)

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