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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 feels she does not fit in with this community because

2. The sermon heard earlier affects Helga because

3. Helga projects a sense of

4. Olsen thinks Helga's surprise at his proposal is

5. Olsen refers to Helga's refusal of him as

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Anne begin avoiding Helga? Has something come between them? What is it?

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

3. Dr. Anderson has almost talked Helga into staying at Naxos. What triggers her rage, and why?

4. Why does Helga's lack of references hurt her job search? Why does she have no references?

5. 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?

6. Why does Helga return to Harlem? Discuss her newfound spiritual ties to the black population here. Is it the same connection she felt before? Why, or why not?

7. What is it that disturbs Helga about Naxos' methods of educating children? Are her feelings justified?

8. What does Axel Olsen's portrait of Helga symbolize? Is the portrait important to the story? Why or why not?

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

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

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

Research and write about Harlem in the 1920s. What made Harlem the haven it became for African Americans? What kinds of people lived there? What was the basic economic structure at that time? Did people generally live in Harlem and work outside, or vice versa? Was black Harlem closed to white folks?

(see the answer keys)

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