View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Baldwin describe the American Ideal?
(a) Everyone should be as different as possible.
(b) Everyone should be as alike as possible.
(c) Everyone should reconnect to American history.
(d) Everyone should connect to their cultural identity.

2. Where is Atlanta located?
(a) Mississippi.
(b) Tennessee.
(c) New York.
(d) Georgia.

3. According to Baldwin, what has led to unforeseen paradoxical distress?
(a) Our passion for categorization.
(b) Our passion for clarity.
(c) Our passion for knowledge.
(d) Our passion for change.

4. 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 in Italian and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.
(b) The music pieces were sung by white men and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.
(c) The music pieces were sung by middle class black people and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.
(d) The music pieces were sung by white people and dubbed over the black actor's lip syncs.

5. What point of view does Baldwin use in this essay?
(a) Second person narrative.
(b) Third person narrative.
(c) First person limited narrative.
(d) First person narrative.

Short Answer Questions

1. What genre of film is the movie Carmen Jones?

2. Who played the villainous second male lead in Carmen Jones?

3. How does Baldwin describe literature on the subject of the Negro in America when it is written by Blacks?

4. How are the oppressed and oppressor described in the book, Notes of a Native Son?

5. What biblical story does Baldwin say allows the Blacks to identify with Jews?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does Baldwin conclude that the religion of the villagers is Catholicism?

3. What is Henry Wallace's role in the Progressive Party?

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

5. According to Baldwin, how do the Europeans react to the American Negro's presence in Paris?

6. According to Baldwin, why is it not the fault of the Negro press that the letters-to-the-editor section is the only section where the truth about the life of the Negro can be seen in print?

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

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

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

10. Why were the Melodeers performing in the south?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 988 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample