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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What two big name magazines, popular in the African American community in the 1940s, are mentioned in the chapter entitled The Harlem Ghetto?
2. Which of the following is not a characteristic given to history by Baldwin?
3. Why does Baldwin insist that the operatic songs performed by the cast in the film Carmen Jones have no connection to Negro life?
4. How many of Baldwin's brothers were in the quartet?
5. Of all Americans, who does Baldwin say Negroes distrust the most?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why do you think Baldwin distrusts his father's warnings about the weight of white people in the world?
2. What allows those former soldiers studying in Paris to remain abroad?
3. Describe the lead characters, Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte, in Carmen Jones.
4. Who was Clarence Warde and what role did he play in the Journey to Atlanta?
5. How does Baldwin use Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin?
6. How are Ebony and Our World Magazines different?
7. Why does Baldwin use the theme of racial prejudice to set the topic and tone for Notes of a Native Son?
8. Describe the appearance and the role of Mrs. Branson Price.
9. How does Baldwin describe the social climate that existed when Richard Wright was writing Native Son?
10. According to Baldwin, how do the Europeans react to the American Negro's presence in Paris?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Escaping is a major theme throughout many of the essays in Baldwin's book. For instance Baldwin escapes to Switzerland to write his book and African American soldiers escape to Paris for education and French culture. How do you think writing this book served as an escape for Baldwin? Did he write to escape the perils of life or racial prejudice? Did he write to help other understand the escape of African Americans from America and American culture? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.
Essay Topic 2
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.
Essay Topic 3
In Equal in Paris, Baldwin chooses to live in Paris, a place where he is considered a stranger. How does Baldwin's experience as a stranger in Paris differ from his experience as a stranger in his own country, the United States? Likewise, what similarities exist between Baldwin's experience as a stranger in Paris and the United States? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.
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This section contains 1,073 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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