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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. What two stereotypical figures does the author portray as portraits of the Negro in America with laudatory and heinous qualities?
(a) Carmen Jones and Uncle Tom.
(b) Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom.
(c) Aunt Jemima and Othello.
(d) Aunt Jemima and Carmen Jones.

2. How has Harlem changed since Baldwin's parents' lifetime?
(a) Not much.
(b) Not at all.
(c) A great deal.
(d) Somewhat in the Jewish occupied areas.

3. What does Baldwin claim Jews and Negroes must use in order to be accepted in the 1940s and 1950s?
(a) American History.
(b) Every weapon possible.
(c) Knowledge of American society.
(d) Religion.

4. According to Baldwin, if black faces cannot be made white then what other way can they be changed in order to be less offensive to white society?
(a) White.
(b) Clear.
(c) Light.
(d) Blank.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Baldwin say American life compares to life in other parts of the world in the 1940s?

2. What does Baldwin say is the hatred symbol of Georgia?

3. Who is the author of Native Son?

4. What novel does Baldwin compare Uncle Tom's Cabin to?

5. What novel does Baldwin criticize as a more modern piece of shallow propaganda from the Negro experience?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the limitations that make it hard for Baldwin to tolerate the French prison system?

2. How does Baldwin describe the Richard Wright's book, Native Son?

3. Describe Baldwin's tone in Everybody's Protest Novel.

4. Why does Baldwin address the phenomenon of Americans choosing to remain in Paris after World War II?

5. Describe Baldwin's Fresnes experience.

6. How does Baldwin escape prosecution in Paris?

7. What is the significance of the protest novel?

8. Describe the lead characters, Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, in Carmen Jones.

9. Why does Baldwin think that there is nowhere on earth for the black man to call home?

10. According to Baldwin, how does an individual become an American? And what does this mean for African Americans?

(see the answer keys)

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