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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 6.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As a child what do Ellison and his boyhood friends believe they are to do?
(a) Negros could never equal the lives of white Americans.
(b) They were doomed to hard manual labor and suffering.
(c) Be whoever they would and could be.
(d) Negros had no chance of doing anything interesting in life.

2. What does Wright do at age four?
(a) Begins to read.
(b) Plays the piano.
(c) Sets the house on fire.
(d) Makes a speech at church.

3. Where does Ellison grow up?
(a) Oklahoma City.
(b) New York City.
(c) Dallas.
(d) New Orleans.

4. Why does Ellison choose to write "Invisible Man" in a non-naturalistic way?
(a) To capture the fluidity and diversity of America.
(b) To be released from expectations.
(c) To bring in supernatural elements.
(d) To be the first Negro writer to write science-fiction.

5. Why does Ellison reject the "hard-boiled" novel style of writing?
(a) Full of physical violence, social cynicism and understatement.
(b) Focused on detectives and criminals.
(c) Too boring for what he wants to say.
(d) Primarily a white form of writing.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the phrase "beating that boy" mean?

2. What does Ellison suggest as a subtitle for "Primer for White Folks?"

3. Where is Richard Wright born?

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

5. What is the occasion of Ellison's speech "Brave Words on a Startling Occasion?"

(see the answer key)

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