2. At the time when widespread media coverage focused on the Nickel Academy, how many Nickel Boy reunions had been held?
(a) 2.
(b) 5.
(c) 18.
(d) 10.

3. How many of Elwood's long-time acquaintances beat him up and broke the chain on his bike in retaliation for his interruption of their theft spree?
(a) 4.
(b) 3.
(c) 2.
(d) 5.

4. What machine was used to mask the screams of the boys as they were punished within the White House?
(a) A fan.
(b) A tennis ball launcher.
(c) A generator.
(d) A heater.

5. In what Florida city did Elwood live with his grandmother Harriet?
(a) Pensacola.
(b) Tallahassee.
(c) Miami.
(d) Broward.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In what kind of a shop was 13-year-old Elwood hired to work for Mr. Marconi?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What disappointing news did Blakely reveal to Elwood about educational opportunities 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. What major discovery is described in the Prologue as having led to widespread media coverage focused on the Nickel Academy?

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

5. How are the themes of brutality and oppression intertwined within Chapter 6?

6. 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?

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

8. Describe Elwood's family, as it is presented in Chapters 1 through 3.

9. In what way did the grounds of Nickel surprise Elwood upon his arrival and what is this detail's significance?

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

(see the answer keys)

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