View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the author sign off in his letter in "My Dungeon Shook"?

2. Of the letter recipient's father, the author says in "My Dungeon Shook," "Let him laugh and I see" what?

3. What word from "My Dungeon Shook" means great in importance, extent, or size?

4. What does the author claim to act is to be in "My Dungeon Shook"?

5. Charles Dickens is regarded as the greatest novelist of what era?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe the temperament and attitudes of the letter recipient in "My Dungeon Shook"?

2. What paradox does the author describe in "My Dungeon Shook"?

3. How does the author define the word "integration" in the conclusion of "My Dungeon Shook"?

4. How is the essay "My Dungeon Shook" formatted and structured?

5. How does the author describe aspirations toward excellence or mediocrity in "My Dungeon Shook"?

6. Who is E. Franklin Frazier and why does the author cite him in "My Dungeon Shook"?

7. How does the author suggest his nephew perceive the "details and symbols of your life" in "My Dungeon Shook"?

8. What "is the danger in the minds of most white Americans," according to the author in "My Dungeon Shook"?

9. How has the black man functioned in the white man's world, according to Baldwin in "My Dungeon Shook"?

10. How does James Baldwin describe his father's defeat in "My Dungeon Shook"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of exploitation in "Down at the Cross." How does the author feel religions tend to exploit their followers? Does he believe this is true both in white society and in African American society? What are examples of the exploitation of the church?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the title of the book. Where in the essays does the author cite a quotation that includes the book's title? What is referred to in this Biblical allusion? How does this quote relate to the themes in "Down at the Cross" and "My Dungeon Shook"?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the author's descriptions of his mother and other female African Americans in The Fire Next Time. How are these depictions juxtaposed against the depictions of males in African American society? What is the basis of these differences in character?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 919 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample