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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. Helga considers Negro society to be

2. James Vayle, to whom Helga is engaged,

3. The sermon heard earlier affects Helga because

4. Helga is disturbed by her euphoric feelings from the music, telling herself

5. The husband of Mrs. Hayes-Rore died

Short Essay Questions

1. Is it clear whether Helga is liked by her peers or colleagues? If so, is it genuine? Is Helga a likable person?

2. What is the YWCA and why is Helga there? Is this a safe haven for her? Does it meet her high living standards?

3. Is Helga feeling regret as she leaves Naxos? Why or why not? Is this a good move for her career? Is sh being responsible?

4. Why would Helga become alienated in a school for Negro children? What makes her different from other faculty.

5. Something about Anne has begun to wear on Helga. What is it? Is Helga's irritability justified? Why?

6. How has the gift of Uncle Peter's money affected Helga? Was this a kind gesture on his part? Why or why not?

7. Discuss the reasons for Helga's newfound happiness with her life in New York. What is it that pleases her in these new surroudings? Why does she feel better here than in Chicago?

8. Why does Helga think Anne is almost perfect? Is Anne perfect? What does Helga even know about her at this point in the story?

9. Discuss Helga's "maladjustment" at Naxos. Is it about the school, or is it about Helga, or both?

10. Devastated over losing what she secretly hoped would develop into an affair with Anderson, Helga's depression returns. Discuss the worship service that she happens upon, and its symbolism.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the music in Harlem during the 1920s, including popular musicians and their audiences. Do some of the same venues still exist there? Does the traditional music of the 1920s still exist there? What permanent mark did early Harlem leave on music, if any?

Essay Topic 2

Write a biography, from what you can find through research, of Nella Larsen and her own experiences that contributed to her stories. Are her stories autobiographical? Where did she gain knowledge of the problems of being bi-racial? What impact, if any, did her writing have on Americans?

Essay Topic 3

Is there really such a place as Naxos? If not, trace the history of the first schools in the south that were strictly designed for African American students. Were they designed to uplift the black race, or to teach assimilation?Were they comparable to Naxos in terms of their goals and objectives? If so, in what ways?

(see the answer keys)

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