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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. Who does Cleaver write letters to in this chapter?

2. What does the man say he gave his girlfriend?

3. What does Cleaver refer to his inmates as?

4. What does Cleaver call those with delegated power below the Godhead?

5. What does Cleaver say America has 20 million of?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Axelrod say in her reply to Cleaver's first letter?

2. Why does Cleaver think that white women seek out men socially beneath them?

3. What events does Cleaver attribute to bridging the racial gap?

4. What is the correlation between the Negro revolution and the war in Vietnam?

5. How have Axelrod and Cleaver's time in prison changed his attitude to women?

6. What is Cleaver's opinion on the structure of society?

7. Why does Cleaver call his fellow prisoners eunuchs?

8. How does Cleaver think the American government is deceiving the public about the Vietnam War?

9. Why does Cleaver think that black men often despise their own women?

10. Why does Cleaver think that the world needs police and the military?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Look at the structure of the book.

1) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the book's ideas?

2) Examine the way Cleaver uses other people in the story to express his ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following people and outline his/her influence on Eldridge Cleaver 's life and ideas.

1) Malcom X

2) Beverly Axelrod

3) President Kennedy

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the values of the 1960s.

1) Why did Afro-American politics come to the fore during this time ?

2) What significant changes do you think occurred during this period?

3) Does today's society share any values with 1960s America?

(see the answer keys)

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