View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

5. The first line of the Prologue of The Nickel Boys states that "Even in death, the boys were" (3) what?
(a) Noisy.
(b) Together.
(c) Trouble.
(d) Exuberant.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In what year did a group of Nickel's young inmates die in a dormitory fire?

3. On what day of Elwood's incarceration at Nickel does he meet Turner?

4. Which character was Elwood trying to protect when he got in trouble for fighting?

5. Turner told Elwood upon their first meeting that he hailed from what city?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. Which two momentous events happened on Elwood's second day at Nickel, as announced at the start of Chapter 5?

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

6. In what way was Elwood's family history intertwined with the Richmond Hotel in Tallahassee?

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

8. 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)?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,263 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample