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

2. 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 Jan Erlone refused to be released and has signed a confession.
(b) Because coming up with such a detailed plan would be beyond the Negro mind.
(c) Because Mr. Dalton really liked Bigger and wanted to help him.
(d) Because Jan Erlone is a communist and they hate communists.

3. 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.

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

5. 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 rapes her then cuts off her head like he did Mary's and throws her body down an air shaft.
(c) He smashes her head with a brick then runs away.
(d) He sleeps then awakens realizing he must kill Bessie.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. What does Bigger begin to wish for all blacks?

3. After he recalls killing Mary Dalton, what did Bigger realize he left in plain sight of his mother and his siblings?

4. What idea does Bigger get after Bessie mentions he is working near the site of the Leopold and Loeb case?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What did Bigger's brother, Buddy, have to say to him?

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

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

6. Although Bigger was very quick with his deceit and able to think on his feet, so to speak, in what way was he becoming his own worst enemy?

7. How did Bigger feel about killing Bessie?

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

9. Describe Bigger's treatment when he was finally caught.

10. As Bigger arrived at the Dalton home on the morning after Mary's murder how was he feeling?

(see the answer keys)

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