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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do Crane and his wife move to England?

2. Who is Irving Howe?

3. What type of jug does Ellison believe young Negro writers, such as himself, are in?

4. What writers does Ellison wish had been included in the "Primer for White Folks"?

5. Who is Stephen Crane?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the two greatest influences upon Crane's life, in Ellison's estimation?

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

3. Who was it that suggested to Ellison that he review a book and write a short story?

4. Why does Ellison consider Stephen Crane to be such a great artist?

5. Though "Black Boy" presents a brutal and violent world, what else does it manage to convey about the young Wright?

6. Did Richard Wright influence Baldwin or Ellison?

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

8. Why does Ellison choose to write about Faulkner?

9. In "Richard Wright's blues" how does Ellison describe the blues?

10. Why was the young Ellison drawn to reading?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Stephen Crane and why is Ellison so interested in him? What is it about Crane's style of writing that is important to Ellison's thinking about good writing? What does Crane do that makes him unique? Clearly Ellison holds Crane up as a great model for all novelists who follow. Is it Crane's technique, his ability to write in such specific ways, what impresses Ellison or is it Crane's willingness to look into the heart of the American culture and see what is there?

Essay Topic 2

In the four articles on musicians written for the Saturday Review, Ellison explores the development of each individual artist. What do Mahalia Jackson, Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian and Jimmy Rushing have in common? Why does Ellison choose both nationally famous and locally famous musicians to write about? How are the careers and styles of the four musicians different?

Essay Topic 3

In "Living with Music" Ellison literally finds himself overwhelmed by the group of people who live around him. His struggle to find his own peace within a larger and very noisy society is a metaphor for the way he sees the individual constantly struggling against the group in life. How does he find peace? What method does he use to carve out his space and literally "be heard?"

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