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

2. During what period of Elwood's life did he play a game wherein he tried to guess how may "Negro patrons" (18) were seated in the Richmond Hotel's dining room?
(a) 13 to 15.
(b) 9 to 12.
(c) 6 to 9.
(d) 9 to 14.

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

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

5. The floor of the White House carried the stench of what substance "that had soaked into the concrete" (67)?
(a) Pain.
(b) Urine.
(c) Blood.
(d) Sweat.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who presented Elwood with a recording called "Martin Luther King at Zion Hill" (11)?

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

3. In what Florida city did Elwood live with his grandmother Harriet?

4. Superintendent Spencer told Elwood and the other newly-arrived Nickel Boys that they would be allowed to leave once they reached what status?

5. Former Nickel Boys are said in the Prologue to have organized support groups in "recent years" (5) in order to reassemble their memories into "confirmation of a shared" (5) what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. 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?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,221 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample