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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. 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 denies killing Mary, but admits he stole money from her.
(c) He admits that he killed Mary and threatens Bessie, too.
(d) He laughs and says Mary killed herself by jumping in the river and he just watched.

3. What does Bigger give his friends when he sees them the morning after Mary's murder?
(a) Candy and gum
(b) A cigarette and a roll of dollars
(c) A dollar and a pack of cigarettes
(d) Money and cigars

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

5. 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) "The waiting arms of the police."
(c) "An ocean of boiling hate."
(d) "An ocean of cheers from the spectators below."

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Jan Erlone think when he hears Bigger's lie about him?

2. What does Bigger do with the pamphlets Jan gave him the night before?

3. The South Side Real Estate Company is what to Bigger?

4. What goes through Bigger's mind when he hears the music from the church?

5. After Bigger returns to the Dalton home with Mary's trunk, he again goes to check the furnace. Who interrupts him?

Short Essay Questions

1. When did Bigger realize how quickly news was going to spread that he had killed Mary?

2. What was Bessie's reaction when Bigger arrived at her apartment the morning after the murder of Mary?

3. In what ways was Bigger's capture similar to the opening of the book when Bigger chased, eventually killing the rat?

4. What kind of power did Bigger have over Bessie that she continued to obey his direction even though she knew it was wrong?

5. What was Bigger's fatal mistake in his plan to dispose of Mary's body?

6. How did Bigger feel about killing Bessie?

7. What is the Loeb and Leopold case that gave Bigger the idea to pretend Mary was kidnapped and collect a ransom?

8. What was the argument Bigger had with his family as he tried to pack his things the day after Mary's death?

9. In Book two, what does Bigger do at the drug store?

10. Why did Bigger decide to try to blame Jan and the Communist Party for the kidnapping?

(see the answer keys)

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