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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. From what did Parker struggle to escape?
2. What does Ellison read in 1935 that moves and intrigues him?
3. What race of people are allowed into Minton's?
4. What institutions does Minton's evolve out of?
5. What is the final grade Jackson finished in school?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Ellison tell us about the matriarch, Mrs. Jackson, in "The Way It Is."
2. What does Ellison say is the invisible man's discovery?
3. Who is Teddy Hill?
4. What place does "Living with Music" describe?
5. What type of music does the upstairs singer practice all day?
6. In the Paris Review (Spring 1955) Ellison was interviewed about his work as a writer. What does he say his first piece of professional writing was?
7. What are the two categories Jones places the blues in?
8. Why does Ellison disagree with Jones when he says "A slave cannot be a man"?
9. Who does the song "They picked poor robin clean" remind Ellison of?
10. What experience in Ellison's childhood gives him patience with his upstairs singing neighbor?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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 2
Ellison's childhood is joyful and full of many artistic influences. What in the interview "That Same Pain, That Same Pleasure" gives you the most insight into his childhood? What activities stir up in the young Ellison that romantic longing and belief that any kind of life is possible? How does music and dance affect his life? Who are his heroes? Why?
Essay Topic 3
In "The Art of Fiction: An Interview" Ellison explores the relationship between art and protest. What does Ellison believe, for him, writing fiction is? Is social comment or protest part of his work at all? If so, how does he see his particular style of writing as contributing to positive social change?
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This section contains 774 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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