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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the three themes of "Shadow and Act" according to the Introduction?
(a) Racism, Poverty and Obstruction of Justice.
(b) Literature, Jazz/Blues and the relationship between Negro America and American culture.
(c) White people, Black people, and Native Americans.
(d) Classical Dance, Country Music and Folk Art.

2. 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) He's a complex, dignified and very human person.
(c) Jim performs black face without the paint.
(d) Jim is stereotypical and boring.

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

4. How does Ellison describe Wright's autobiography "Black Boy?"
(a) An angry young man's immoderate tale of delusion.
(b) The Negro answer to "Huckleberry Finn."
(c) Another failed attempt to pierce the great wall between races.
(d) A non-white intellectual's statement of his relationship with Western culture.

5. What are Crane's parents like?
(a) French born intellectuals.
(b) Libertine alcoholics.
(c) Fundamentalist Christians.
(d) Marxist sympathizers.

6. What is Ellison's original choice of career?
(a) Politician.
(b) Barber.
(c) Policeman.
(d) Musician.

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

8. What is it that widens Ellison's world in a dramatic way?
(a) Living with a white family.
(b) Athletics.
(c) Reading.
(d) Traveling abroad.

9. Falkner writes exclusively of the southern experience yet Ellison believes him to be addressing what?
(a) Effect of war upon culture.
(b) Inevitable rise and fall of every civilization.
(c) Nature of man.
(d) Northern Negro experience.

10. What three ways do Negroes in Wright's childhood survive?
(a) Embrace, celebrate, or be grateful.
(b) Enjoy, relax, or savor.
(c) Vote, campaign, or legislate.
(d) Accept, repress or fight.

11. Other white cultures have black face type entertainment, but what is different about American black face?
(a) American black face is always light and fun.
(b) American black face is performed by Negro actors only.
(c) The American history of inclusive entertainment makes it acceptable.
(d) The American history of slavery makes it a "ritual of exorcism."

12. What is the name of the college Ellison attended?
(a) Rutgers.
(b) Harvard.
(c) University of Oklahoma.
(d) Tuskegee.

13. Where and when is "The World and The Jug" published?
(a) Mississippian, 1967 and 1968.
(b) Paris Review, 1966.
(c) New York Times, 1965.
(d) New Leader, 1963 and 1964.

14. What does Ellison suggest as a subtitle for "Primer for White Folks?"
(a) Comprehensive Study of the Unruly Seas of Race.
(b) Method for finding Peace and Harmony among the Races.
(c) How-to book for Bigots and Innocents.
(d) Short Course on the American Negro for Those Who "Beat That Boy".

15. How many children are in Stephen Crane's birth family?
(a) 14.
(b) 20.
(c) 1.
(d) 2.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Stanley Hyman's favorite archetypal figure?

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

3. What is minstrel show black face?

4. How does Ellison describe the writer Malraux?

5. What musician does Ellison see as the true "trickster" archetype?

(see the answer keys)

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