View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 wishes he could be with his mother.
(d) He half wishes he was a believer like his mother, but doesn't want to give up his sense of self.

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

3. When Bessie again declares she won't help Bigger with is ransom plan, what does bigger do to persuade her?
(a) He holds a knife in a threatening way and warns her she had better help him.
(b) Reminds her she has already helped him steal enough to land her in jail. He also threatens to slap her.
(c) He tells her it will be over between them if she doesn't help him.
(d) He threatens to beat her if she doesn't do what he wants.

4. In what ways does Bigger act to give the impression he thinks Mary is asleep upstairs in her bedroom?
(a) He eats breakfast with the Daltons as though nothing unusual has happened.
(b) He eats his breakfast then asks Peggy to go upstairs and find out what is taking Mary so long.
(c) He loads her trunk, waits by the car, rings the bell, then asks Peggy what he should do since Mary has not come down.
(d) He asks Mrs. Dalton what time Mary's train is supposed to leave, because he doesn't want them to be late.

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

6. How much money does Bigger show Bessie to try to impress her?
(a) $125
(b) $225
(c) $100
(d) $175

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

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

9. 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 tells Peggy he will check the furnace later.
(b) He fears she suspects something and plans on how he will kill her if she discovers anything about Mary.
(c) He hurries down the stairs to shake the ashes.
(d) He tells Peggy the furnace is fine, but he will check it anyway.

10. How does Bigger compare his family to Mary Dalton?
(a) He sees his family's poor existence compared to Mary's rich life.
(b) He sees his family as afraid as compared to Mary's confidence.
(c) He sees his family as a burden compared to new possibilites created by Mary's death.
(d) He sees his family as alive compared to Mary being dead.

11. 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.

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

13. 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.

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

15. Where does Bigger place the ransom note to be certain Mr. Dalton gets it?
(a) On Mr. Dalton's desk in his office.
(b) Under the front door.
(c) In the Dalton mail box.
(d) Under the back door.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many people are searching for Bigger?

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

3. What did Bigger's mother say to him after she awakens the morning after the killing?

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

5. Bigger finally shakes down the ashes, but he doesn't remove them from the furnace, he just adds more coal. What happens then?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,217 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample