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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 stereotypical figures does the author portray as portraits of the Negro in America with laudatory and heinous qualities?

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

3. What does Baldwin say it means for the Negro to be religious?

4. What's the name of Baldwin's brother who relayed his experience with the Melodeers in Atlanta?

5. How does Baldwin describe the relationship between the Negroes and the Jews in Harlem?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Why were the Melodeers performing in the south?

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

6. Describe the language and dialect in the film Carmen Jones.

7. What roles does religion play in the life of the Negro?

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

9. What did Baldwin determine is the main similarity that the American Negro and the French Negro share?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Isolation is a major theme throughout Baldwin's book Notes of a Native Son. What reasons do you think African Americans abroad had for choosing to isolate themselves from other African Americans abroad? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Notes of a Native Son is a collection of essays written by James Baldwin to illuminate the life conditions of the Negro people during the 1940s and 1950s pre-civil rights era.

In your opinion, what audience did Baldwin want to read this book? Who was his target audience? Did he write his book for African Americans, Whites, Non-Americans, etc? Why do you think he wrote the book for the audience you have identified as his target audience? 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.

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