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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The national press picked up the story about the secret cemetery at Nickel Academy after a newspaper from what city published a story about it first?
(a) Miami.
(b) Tallahassee.
(c) Boca Raton.
(d) Orlando.

2. In what year did Elwood receive "the best gift of his life" (11) for Christmas?
(a) 1962.
(b) 1971.
(c) 1953.
(d) 1969.

3. At what time of the morning did the Nickel staff arrive in order to take Elwood and the others to receive their punishment for fighting?
(a) 4.
(b) 2.
(c) 1.
(d) 3.

4. What profanity-laden items were passed on to the black students at Lincoln High School whenever the students at the white high school received new ones?
(a) Uniforms.
(b) Sports equipment.
(c) Textbooks.
(d) Desks.

5. The entirety of the Nickel property numbered how many acres in total?
(a) 1,400.
(b) 500.
(c) 800.
(d) 300.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which members of the Richmond Hotel staff played a trick on 12-year-old Elwood using a set of encyclopedias?

2. In addition to Spencer, how many other men came to fetch Elwood and other boys on the night of Elwood's first trip to the White House?

3. How many afternoons did Elwood spend at the Richmond Hotel after the trick was played on him with the use of encyclopedias?

4. Once Elwood started to work for Mr. Marconi, Harriet put half of his wages toward household expenses and saved the other half for what expense?

5. Upon Elwood's arrival, Nickel housed "over" (49) how many inmates?

Short Essay Questions

1. For what purpose does Whitehead allude to Life magazine within Chapter 2?

2. In what way does Whitehead employ foreshadowing about Superintendent Spencer's character?

3. What was ironic about Harriet's punishment of Elwood upon learning that he had participated in a protest?

4. In what way does Whitehead intertwine the motif of dreams with the theme of escape within Chapter 7?

5. What examples does the narrator use to back up the claim that Harriet was rarely able to "make proper goodbyes to her loved ones" (70)?

6. How many boys were incarcerated at Nickel at the time of Elwood's arrival and in what way was the campus divided into two?

7. For what purpose does Whitehead allude to The Andy Griffith Show in Chapter 7?

8. What does the industrial fan within Chapter 6 symbolize and with what theme does Whitehead connect the fan?

9. How did Elwood turn the nasty trick played by the Richmond Hotel staff into a boon?

10. Who was Elwood and what event prompted him to need to return to Nickel?

(see the answer keys)

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