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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. Although it is known that African Americans are not biologically or mentally inferior, what occurred during the World War II?
(a) The troops were segregated.
(b) The troops were evaluated.
(c) African Americans were not allowed to fight.
(d) The troops were integrated.

2. According to Baldwin, what color is associated with evil?
(a) Red.
(b) Green.
(c) White.
(d) Black.

3. Baldwin believes that the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin should have been:
(a) A Play.
(b) A Short Story.
(c) A Pamphlet.
(d) A Novel.

4. Why does Baldwin assert that White people contribute to the perpetuation of the stereotypical characters such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom?
(a) Because Whites want to believe that Black people are unhappy with their lives.
(b) Because Whites want to believe the happy, subservient personas of Black people
(c) Because Whites like being entertained by the stereotypical figures of Black Americans.
(d) Because African Americans love to imitate these types of stereotypical characters.

5. What are there more of in Harlem than any other ghetto in the city?
(a) Homes.
(b) Prisons.
(c) Grocery Stores.
(d) Churches.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the avowed aim of the American protest novel?

2. What two big name magazines, popular in the African American community in the 1940s, are mentioned in the chapter entitled The Harlem Ghetto?

3. Which of the following artists was mentioned in the Harlem Ghetto chapter as having a column in the People's Voice?

4. Who played the lead male role in the film Carmen Jones?

5. How is history and the progress of the Negro described in the chapter entitled Many Thousands Gone?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why were the Melodeers performing in the south?

2. Why do you think Baldwin distrusts his father's warnings about the weight of white people in the world?

3. How did Baldwin receive word about the journey to Atlanta?

4. How does Baldwin describe the social climate that existed when Richard Wright was writing Native Son?

5. What did the Melodeers do to displease Mrs. Price?

6. Why is it important to examine the myths about African Americans in order to discover what it means to be a "Negro in America"?

7. Why is the American Negro envious of the French African?

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

9. Describe the appearance and the role of Mrs. Branson Price.

10. How does Baldwin use Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin?

(see the answer keys)

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