View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ellison praise about "Primer for White Folks?"
(a) Easy to read and young children will like it.
(b) Short and to the point.
(c) Realistic and therefore does not contain much hope.
(d) The search for images of black and white fraternity.

2. What is the "Hidden Name" referred to in the title of Ellison's speech?
(a) Ellison's middle name, Waldo.
(b) Ernest Hemingway.
(c) The names given to Negro people by their slave owners.
(d) Ellison's father's name, George Washington Ellison.

3. Why does Ellison chose not to emphasize the details of racial hardship in his life?
(a) It is a white audience and he fears they will be uncomfortable.
(b) To avoid boring the audience.
(c) It is a Negro audience and they already know his story.
(d) Too painful for him to speak about.

4. How does Ellison describe the writer Malraux?
(a) French counterpart.
(b) Polar opposite.
(c) Literary ancestor.
(d) Greatest nemesis.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Why does Ellison choose to analyze Ernest Hemingway?

3. How does Ellison describe the philosopher Kierkegaard in the "Stephen Crane.." essay?

4. What is the origin of the essay "Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke?"

5. Where is the essay "Richard Wright's Blues" published and when?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did a library for Negro persons emerge in Oklahoma City?

2. What does Ellison compare Wright's personal journey of blooming to?

3. How does Ellison leave the rather bitter dialogue with Howe?

4. What does the Negro say when white America holds up twentieth century fiction and say "this is the American reality?"

5. Where do Ellison and Hyman divide in their understanding of black face minstrel performance?

6. What is Ellison's basic quarrel with Hyman?

7. What does the phrase "The World and the Jug" refers to?

8. What does the second half of the title "Hidden Names and Complex Fate" refer to?

9. What is the "hidden name" Ellison is referring in the title of his speech to the Library of Congress in 1064?

10. When Ellison accepts the American National Book Award for "The Invisible Man" what does he say that the award is recognizing?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,074 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample