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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 the author claim the black man has functioned as in the white man's world in "My Dungeon Shook"?

2. The author says in "My Dungeon Shook," "We have not stopped trembling yet, but if we had not loved each other none of us would have" what?

3. In "My Dungeon Shook," the author cites E. Franklin Frazier as describing a time when the blacks left the land and entered into what?

4. The author writes to the letter recipient in "My Dungeon Shook," "You come from a long line of" what?

5. Where did Charles Dickens live?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Baldwin claim to be "the root of my dispute with my country" in "My Dungeon Shook"?

2. How does the author describe his mother in "My Dungeon Shook"?

3. What does the author claim to be the only way you can be destroyed in "My Dungeon Shook"?

4. What does the author remark about love and survival in "My Dungeon Shook"?

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

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

7. What does the author say the world has done to his brother in "My Dungeon Shook"?

8. How does the author describe the circumstances of white society and history in "My Dungeon Shook"?

9. How is the title of the essay employed in "My Dungeon Shook"?

10. What does the author write about the words "acceptance" and "integration" in "My Dungeon Shook"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Discuss the author's characterizations of his father and brother in "My Dungeon Shook." How does he compare and contrast these individuals? What does he describe as the failures and destruction of his father and brother? How does the author relate his father and brother to his nephew?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the language style of The Fire Next Time. How would you describe the author's fluidity and lyricism in his language in the essays? What are examples of literary devices such as similes, metaphors, etc. employed by the author? How does the language style reflect upon the author?

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This section contains 930 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample