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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. For how many nights was Elwood permitted to sleep in his own home between his sentencing and his departure for Nickel?
(a) 7.
(b) 3.
(c) 14.
(d) 2.

2. The national press picked up the story about the secret cemetery at Nickel Academy after a newspaper from what city published a story about it first?
(a) Tallahassee.
(b) Miami.
(c) Boca Raton.
(d) Orlando.

3. On what day of Elwood's incarceration at Nickel does he meet Turner?
(a) His tenth.
(b) His third.
(c) His first.
(d) His second.

4. In what part of Elwood's body did he receive a punch from Black Mike at the scene of Elwood's intervention in the middle of a fight?
(a) His stomach.
(b) His ear.
(c) His chest.
(d) His jaw.

5. How many desks had been squeezed into Elwood and Desmond's homeroom at Nickel?
(a) 40.
(b) 30.
(c) 50.
(d) 100.

Short Answer Questions

1. Before the college students found the "secret graveyard" (3) how many bodies in total had they counted within the Nickel Academy's official cemetery?

2. At what time of the morning did the Nickel staff arrive in order to take Elwood and the others to receive their punishment for fighting?

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

4. Mr. Hill started teaching history at Lincoln High School when Elwood was a student in which year of high school?

5. Elwood was shocked to find that "most of the Nickel boys couldn't" (59) take what action?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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 examples does the narrator use to back up the claim that Harriet was rarely able to "make proper goodbyes to her loved ones" (70)?

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

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

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. What disappointing news did Blakely reveal to Elwood about educational opportunities at Nickel?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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