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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Baldwin criticize the cleanliness of the Carmen Jones movie set?
(a) Because they do not accurately portray the environments of the working class Negroes characterized in the movie.
(b) Because they do not show the intermingling of working class Negroes and Whites.
(c) Because they do not accurately portray the working-class.
(d) Because it does not accurately portray the American ghetto.

2. The story of Carmen Jones deals with what type of people?
(a) Immortal
(b) Immortal.
(c) Amoral.
(d) Moral.

3. Who is the author of Native Son?
(a) Langston Hughes.
(b) James Baldwin.
(c) Richard Wright.
(d) Harriet Beecher Stowe.

4. How does Baldwin describe literature on the subject of the Negro in America when it is written by Blacks?
(a) Problem Literature.
(b) Protest Literature.
(c) Change Literature.
(d) Social Literature.

5. What does Baldwin say it means for the Negro to be religious?
(a) He stands in fear of beast.
(b) He stands in fear of God.
(c) He stands in fear of man.
(d) He stands in fear of creation.

6. What is the avowed aim of the American protest novel?
(a) To bring Christianity to the oppressed.
(b) To bring greater charity to the oppressed.
(c) To bring greater freedom to the oppressed.
(d) To bring the ideals of socialism to the oppressed.

7. Why does Baldwin insist that the operatic songs performed by the cast in the film Carmen Jones have no connection to Negro life?
(a) The music pieces were sung by middle class black people and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.
(b) The music pieces were sung by white people and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.
(c) The music pieces were sung by white men and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.
(d) The music pieces were sung in Italian and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.

8. Why is the language and dialect in the film Carmen Jones considered an insult on black people?
(a) Because the characters speak like enslaved Africans.
(b) Because the characters speak like antebellum Negroes adopting the patterns language of their masters.
(c) Because the characters speak like stereotypical Negroes.
(d) Because the characters speak like northern born Negroes.

9. What impeded the Progressive Party's progression in Harlem during the 1940s?
(a) The campaign promises were too common.
(b) The campaign promises were geared towards African Americans.
(c) The campaign promises were geared towards Whites.
(d) The campaign promises were too extravagant.

10. Who played the villainous second male lead in Carmen Jones?
(a) Joe Adams.
(b) Sammy Davis, Jr.
(c) Sidney Poitier.
(d) Harry Belafonte.

11. How does Baldwin describe the relationship between the Negroes and the Jews in Harlem?
(a) Contentious.
(b) Amicable.
(c) Unwanted.
(d) Indifferent.

12. What genre of film is the movie Carmen Jones?
(a) Opera.
(b) Drama .
(c) Horror.
(d) Comedy.

13. How is history and the progress of the Negro described in the chapter entitled Many Thousands Gone?
(a) Anti-Social.
(b) Sufficient.
(c) Social.
(d) Non-existent.

14. How does Baldwin describe a "new society" in the book, Notes of a Native Son?
(a) One in which Negros resume their slave duties.
(b) One in which inequalities will disappear and vengeance will be exacted.
(c) One in which Negros and Whites work together.
(d) One in which inequalities change because of protests.

15. What did the parents of the Melodeers oppose prior to their departure for Atlanta?
(a) The trip to Atlanta.
(b) Only one chaperone for the group.
(c) Mr. Wades as the group's manager and guardian .
(d) An extra tour.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the presidential candidate representing the Progressive Party at the time Baldwin wrote this essay?

2. How many of Baldwin's brothers were in the quartet?

3. Why does Baldwin assert that White people contribute to the perpetuation of the stereotypical characters such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom?

4. What was the aim of the quartet groups like the Melodeers?

5. Of all Americans, who does Baldwin say Negroes distrust the most?

(see the answer keys)

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