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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 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Ellison consider Stephen Crane a great artist?
(a) He was talented in so many artistic fields.
(b) He wrote so many books.
(c) Under pressure and panic he stuck to his guns.
(d) He was the first great Negro author.

2. Why does Ellison choose to analyze Mark Twain?
(a) Twain was married to a Negro woman.
(b) Twain offers a unique historical perspective.
(c) Twain was a slave owner and trader.
(d) Twain was a humorist.

3. Where does Ellison say civil wars are fought?
(a) "Between and betwixt fantasy and reality."
(b) "Within the individual human heart."
(c) "In no man's land which cannot be grasped."
(d) "On the field of family ties."

4. What does Mark Twain do with the character of Jim that breaks through the black face minstrel tradition?
(a) Jim's very serious and not at all fun.
(b) Jim performs black face without the paint.
(c) He's a complex, dignified and very human person.
(d) Jim is stereotypical and boring.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is Stephen Crane when he dies?

2. What is the relationship between Ellison and Stanley Hyman?

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

4. Where is the essay "Stephen Crane and the Mainstream of American Fiction" published?

5. Other white cultures have black face type entertainment, but what is different about American black face?

(see the answer key)

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