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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. In what kind of a shop was 13-year-old Elwood hired to work for Mr. Marconi?
(a) A shoe shop.
(b) A tobacco shop.
(c) A book shop.
(d) A water sports shop.

2. How many afternoons did Elwood spend at the Richmond Hotel after the trick was played on him with the use of encyclopedias?
(a) 9.
(b) 30.
(c) 3.
(d) 1.

3. How many days in total had Elwood attended classes at Melvin Griggs Technical before he was unjustly accused of stealing a car?
(a) 2.
(b) 0.
(c) 3.
(d) 1.

4. On what "side" of the Nickel Academy's property was the "secret graveyard" (3) discovered?
(a) East.
(b) South.
(c) West.
(d) North.

5. The White House had once been used in what other capacity?
(a) As a work shed.
(b) As a chapel.
(c) As a game room.
(d) As a schoolroom.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which student was often moved back and forth between the white campus and black campus of Nickel during Elwood's incarceration?

2. Elwood was told that "classroom instruction" (51) took place how often at Nickel?

3. How many feet long was the leather strap called Black Beauty" (67)?

4. When Harriet found out about Elwood's participation in a protest, in what way did she punish him?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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)?

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

4. What Christmas present did Elwood receive in 1962 that the narrator described as "the best gift of his life" (11)?

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

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

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

8. Who or what was Black Beauty within the twisted world of Nickel?

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

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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