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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part 1, The Seer and the Seen, Section 3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the origin of the essay "Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke?"
(a) Letter written by Ellison when he was living in Rome to an old friend.
(b) "Invisible Man."
(c) Short story about lynching.
(d) Treatise on the folk art of tying knots.

2. Who is Stanley Hyman's favorite archetypal figure?
(a) Messiah.
(b) Orphaned prince.
(c) King.
(d) Trickster.

3. What is Ellison's original career direction?
(a) Heal the sick.
(b) Tend gardens.
(c) Play the trumpet.
(d) Design buildings.

4. What musician does Ellison see as the true "trickster" archetype?
(a) Louis Armstrong.
(b) Charlie Parker.
(c) Mahalia Jackson.
(d) Jack Benny.

5. How does Ellison describe his boyhood experience in Oklahoma?
(a) Poverty stricken existence with little enjoyment.
(b) Romantic aspirations in the spirit of frontier adventurousness.
(c) Series of mind numbing and violent episodes.
(d) Very controlled and regimented experience.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Ellison say good fiction is made of?

2. Where and when is the essay "Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke" published?

3. Who is Henry Bowman Otto Davis?

4. How does Ellison start writing?

5. What does Mark Twain do with the character of Jim that breaks through the black face minstrel tradition?

(see the answer key)

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