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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. The narrator states in the beginning of Chapter 4 that the farther he got below __________, the more disappointed he became with the appearance of the country?

2. What present does the narrator describe receiving from his father in Chapter 3?

3. What does the narrator have for breakfast that is described as “boiled to the consistency where it could be eaten with a fork” in Chapter 4?

4. With what does the narrator describe having been allowed to play by the tall man with the small, dark moustache in Chapter 1?

5. The narrator’s companion tells him in Chapter 4 that all of the “respectable coloured people” eat where?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where did James Weldon Johnson attend university? How is this institution described?

2. How is the first Pullman car porter described by the narrator? Where does the narrator meet him?

3. What are “slave narratives”? How are they related to the narrative of The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man?

4. How does the theme of identity apply to the novel? How does it apply to the narrator?

5. What popular dance does the narrator describe in Chapter 5? When did the dance develop?

6. How is the period in which the book is set described by the author? What was life like for African Americans?

7. What event takes place informing the narrator of his ethnic heritage in his early years? How does he react to the information?

8. Who is the narrator of The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man? What secret does he discuss in Chapter 1?

9. What does the narrator discover when he encounters the porter at a dance in Chapter 5?

10. How is segregation addressed when the narrator eats his first meal in Atlanta in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the history of segregation in the South, and particularly in Georgia. When were the Jim Crow laws enacted? When were they repealed? How did these laws influence society in the South? What segregation does the narrator experience before going to the South?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the setting of Jacksonville, Florida, in the narrative. Why does the porter suggest that the narrator go to Jacksonville to find work? How did the segregation laws differ in Florida than Georgia during this time period? How does the narrator travel to Jacksonville?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the narrator’s decision to return to New York after the closing of the cigar factory. Where do the other workers decide to go to look for work? Who chooses to go with the narrator to the North? Why?

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