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. Helga considers Negro society to be

2. Anne does not know that Helga

3. Dr. Anderson would hope that Helga would, instead, prefer to

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

5. What dominates Helga's mind when rich men court her in New York?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Helga's reasoning for not wanting children? Is this just a defense mechanism on her part? Why, or why not?

2. Discuss Helga's newly emerging feelings about the black population around her in New York. What might this mean about Helga?

3. Who is Uncle Peter? Why does Helga expect help from him?

4. What exactly happens to Helga in Denmark? What is her social life like? Is she doomed to be unhappy again? Why?

5. To what do you suppose Helga is attracted in Dr. Anderson? (Hint: Up until now, the author repeatedly mentions a certain aspect of him.)

6. Why did Uncle Peter's wife reject Helga? Is she an unreasonable woman? Is she cruel? Explain your answers.

7. What was it about Helga's past that was so unhappy? Is her unhappiness justified? Why, or why not?

8. Why does Helga feel free on the ship on her way to Denmark? Does being isolated in the middle of the ocean have any effect on her? If so, what?

9. What is the point of Larsen's description of Helga's response to the music at the club? What does the jungle animal description prove? Is this a racist passage?

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 a well-researched essay on the effects of early American blues music on women's sexuality and the perceptions that surrounded it, before and since. Was there a "code" of sexuality for women during the 20s in black Harlem? How did music influence or coincide with that code?

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

What are the most outstanding differences in Helga Crane's presentation of herself in Denmark and in New York? Write about her transition from one facade to the other, and what she brought from one culture to the other. Did she blend in within any of the societal structures in which she chose to live? Why, or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,394 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample