View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What impeded the Progressive Party's progression in Harlem during the 1940s?

2. Baldwin believes that the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin should have been:

3. How is the Negro in America referred to in the chapter entitled Many Thousands Gone?

4. Who had the money to pay for the Melodeers' accommodations in Atlanta?

5. Where is Harlem located?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Baldwin living a bleak life in Paris before he befriends a man from New York?

2. According to Baldwin, why are the mannerisms of the character Carmen Jones based on rampant sexuality?

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

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

5. What is the significance of having the evil and immoral characters played by very dark complected Negroes in the film Carmen Jones?

6. Why do you think Baldwin experiences a sense of melancholy after his father's death?

7. How does Baldwin describe the American student colony in Paris?

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

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

10. Describe Baldwin's Fresnes experience.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Baldwin's experiences as a Negro in America to his experiences in Paris and Switzerland. How are these experiences similar? How are these experiences different? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Baldwin describes his relationship with his father in Notes of a Native Son. After his father's death, Baldwin feels a sense of melancholy that he never had a chance to bond with his father. Why do you think Baldwin feels this way? What regrets, if any, do you think Baldwin had at the end of his father's life? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Baldwin wrote each of the essays in the book Notes of a Native Son between 1940 and 1959 and he published each in various publications during that time. Why do you think Baldwin selected these particular essays for inclusion in the book? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,035 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample