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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who are the two main characters in "Intruder in the Dust?"
(a) Mark Marroni and Leroy Belvadon.
(b) Chick Mallison and Lucas Beauchamp.
(c) William Faulkner and Maria Sothington.
(d) Joe and Mal.

2. What kind of radio does Ellison have?
(a) Old Philco AM with Pilot FM tuner.
(b) Plastic transistor radio.
(c) Old Nelson AM with Riddle FM tuner.
(d) Wooden American Minder with glass tubes.

3. Why are slaves able to express themselves in art?
(a) Art was seen as harmless by slave owners.
(b) They were given artistic education by slave owners.
(c) They came from African cultures where art was highly functional.
(d) Entertainment was enforced by white culture.

4. How did Mrs. Jackson's nephew William die?
(a) Suicide.
(b) Hit by enemy fire during a battle in France.
(c) Submarine torpedoes sank the ship he was working on.
(d) Drugs and alcohol.

5. Who are the two primary managers of Minton's?
(a) Henry Minton and Joey Minton.
(b) Henry Minton and Teddy Hill.
(c) Henry Minton and Ralph Ellison.
(d) Henry Minton and Louis Armstrong.

6. What is the significance of printing Negro with a capital N?
(a) Typographical error.
(b) Victory for Negro people's self-definition.
(c) Dismissive category.
(d) There is no significance.

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

8. What is Charlie Parker's nickname?
(a) Noodle.
(b) C.P.
(c) Horn.
(d) Bird.

9. What is the "Act" Ellison refers to in the title of both the essay and the book?
(a) Violence.
(b) Hatred.
(c) Reality.
(d) Cruelty.

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

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

12. Who co-founds modern jazz with Parker?
(a) Dizzy Gillespie.
(b) Pat Brown.
(c) Louis Armstrong.
(d) Jimmy Rushing.

13. Who is Mrs. Lydia Maria Child?
(a) Primary benefactor of Tuskegee Institute.
(b) Leading member of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
(c) Teacher of jazz poetry.
(d) Patron of the LeRoi Restaurant.

14. What does Charlie Christian play when he was a young child?
(a) Oil drum.
(b) Cigar box banjo.
(c) Tin fiddle.
(d) Plastic trumpet.

15. In "Blues People" how are the blues categorized?
(a) Good or bad.
(b) Country or classic.
(c) Poetic or Sociological.
(d) Negro or White.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is Minton's located?

2. How does Ellison define the "understanding of art?"

3. Where does Charlie Christian come from?

4. Why does "Invisible Man" take so long to complete?

5. What two types of music is Ellison torn between as a child?

(see the answer keys)

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