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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. How much of the Florida government's publishing was done on Nickel property at the time of Elwood's arrival?
(a) One-quarter of it.
(b) The majority of it.
(c) All of it.
(d) Half of it.

2. What was the name of Elwood's house father at Nickel?
(a) Harrison.
(b) Blakely.
(c) Turner.
(d) Harper.

3. Phil the houseman told Elwood and the other boys at the scene of the fight that which character would soon hear of the incident?
(a) Blakely.
(b) The social worker.
(c) Spencer.
(d) Harper.

4. Elwood was told that "classroom instruction" (51) took place how often at Nickel?
(a) Every day.
(b) Three times per day.
(c) Every other day, but not on Sunday.
(d) Twice a month.

5. When Elwood first met the boys who slept on either side of them, he learned that their names were what?
(a) Pat and Desmond.
(b) Turner and Blakely.
(c) Harper and Desmond.
(d) Spencer and Thomas.

Short Answer Questions

1. The floor of the White House carried the stench of what substance "that had soaked into the concrete" (67)?

2. In what suburb of a large Florida town did Elwood live with his grandmother Harriet?

3. On the last day of school, Mr. Hill gave Elwood a book by which black writer?

4. Boys punished within the White House were ordered to lie down on a blood-stained mattress and to hold onto what object?

5. When Elwood joined the A and M students in a protest during his junior year, they were all fighting to integrate what type of establishments?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. For what reason was Elwood unable to get a full night's sleep the day of his arrival at Nickel?

4. What major discovery is described in the Prologue as having led to widespread media coverage focused on the Nickel Academy?

5. What happened to prevent Elwood from attending his first class at Marvin Griggs Technical?

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

7. How does Whitehead use personification to depict the way that Harriet tried not to get her hopes up about the progress the black community might make in the wake of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision?

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

9. In what way does the theme of collectivism arise within the Prologue of The Nickel Boys?

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

(see the answer keys)

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