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

Short Answer Questions

1. In total, how many days did Baldwin spend in the French prison system?

2. What did Baldwin claim that the soldiers who studied in Paris had in common with the rest of the soliders that fought in the war?

3. How many schoolhouses are located in the Swiss village?

4. What technique did Baldwin say he used in arguments with his father?

5. What is one way that Baldwin claims a person can become entrenched in the Parisian lifestyle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 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

Based on Baldwin's essays Carmen Jones: The Dark is Light Enough and The Harlem Ghetto, what role did media (i.e. newspapers, magazines, and film) have on the life of the Negro in the 1940s and 1950s? Please use examples from the book to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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