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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. What does Cleaver call the upper class?

2. What does Cleaver say sparked a contact between whites and blacks?

3. What does Cleaver think was not a positive move for the Negro revolution?

4. What does Cleaver say the new left and the new right are the result of?

5. What does Cleaver refer to his inmates as?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Cleaver say in his first letter to Beverly Axelrod?

3. Why does Cleaver think it is a mistake to attack the police?

4. What does Cleaver think Americans think of themselves collectively?

5. Why don't the younger men like the elderly black prisoner in Chapter 13?

6. How does Cleaver think humankind began?

7. What does Cleaver think threatens the Negro revolution?

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

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

10. Summarize the elderly man's monologue in Chapter 13.

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

Do the students think Cleaver is unrealistic by asking for American blacks to open discussions with Africans? What problems do the students think such discussions could cause?

Essay Topic 3

What major events had a profound affect on Cleaver's life and how did they change him?

(see the answer keys)

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