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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What do the three sections of "Invisible Man" represent?
(a) Purpose to passion to perception.
(b) Darkness to dawn to full sun at noon.
(c) Terror to understanding to acceptance.
(d) Ancient to modern to future.

2. From what did Parker struggle to escape?
(a) Color-blindness.
(b) Poverty.
(c) Role of entertainer.
(d) Illiteracy.

3. Jones contends "A slave cannot be a ______" (fill in word).
(a) Intellectual.
(b) Man.
(c) Communist.
(d) Musician.

4. Where is Ellison living in the essay "Living with Music?"
(a) Cabin on board ship.
(b) Vermont barn.
(c) Across from the Manhattan School of Music.
(d) Tiny ground floor rear apartment.

5. What do the blues capture?
(a) Religion of the Negro people.
(b) Tragic and comic sense of the human condition.
(c) Personality of the singer.
(d) The time period in which they were written.

6. What does Ellison do to find some peace and quiet?
(a) Wears earplugs.
(b) Pads the walls with newspaper.
(c) Begins to meditate.
(d) Creates a sound system of his own.

7. What is the first book Ellison ever reviews in a publication?
(a) E. Waters Turpin's "These Low Grounds."
(b) Richard Wright's "Amazing Grace."
(c) John Joseph's "Ain't no way out."
(d) James Baldwin's "Protest Novel."

8. Culturally, what do American Negros represent?
(a) Great amalgam of African, American Indian and European cultures.
(b) Repression of natural human desire.
(c) African tribal customs transplanted to American soil.
(d) Future of American melting pot.

9. Where is the book review "Blues People" published and when?
(a) Cleveland Times, 1974.
(b) Saturday Review, 1945.
(c) Tukumpsee Reader, 1930.
(d) New York Review, 1964.

10. What church does Mahalia grow up in?
(a) Roman Catholic.
(b) Baptist.
(c) African Episcopal.
(d) Pentecostal.

11. What does the chaos of noise cause in Ellison?
(a) Writer's block.
(b) Mental Illness.
(c) Hearing loss.
(d) Peace and Joy.

12. What does Ellison say slaves had in place of freedom?
(a) Suffering, despair, darkness.
(b) Blues, spirituals, jazz.
(c) Dementia, mental illness, emptiness.
(d) Early death, disease, drunkenness.

13. What is the "Shadow" which Hollywood produces?
(a) An illusionary view of the world.
(b) Back alley deals with racists.
(c) Flickering films about Negros.
(d) Dark tales of slavery and oppression.

14. What magazine does Ellison write music reviews for?
(a) New Yorker.
(b) Music Town Tonight.
(c) Saturday Review.
(d) Negro Nightlife.

15. What is Jimmy Rushing's instrument?
(a) Voice.
(b) Piano.
(c) Banjo.
(d) Violin.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the final grade Jackson finished in school?

2. What kind of radio does Ellison have?

3. Who is Mrs. Lydia Maria Child?

4. What does Charlie Christian play when he was a young child?

5. Who lives above Ellison?

(see the answer keys)

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