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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who created a written record of every date, establishment name, and individual name associated with the Community Service activities supervised by Harper?

2. Which character overheard Superintendent Spencer order Griff to throw the boxing match?

3. The narrator states that the annual boxing championship was the black Nickel boys' "sole acquaintance" with what "at Nickel" (98)?

4. Harper's first words to Elwood were that Turner had promised that Elwood knew how to take what action?

5. In what year did Elwood move to New York City?

Short Essay Questions

1. What quality did Harper name as the most important one for a Community Service work detail member to possess?

2. In what way does Whitehead employ foreshadowing in relation to the story about the escapee named Clayton Smith?

3. What physical problem of Elwood's is described in Chapter 11?

4. What event caused Elwood to decide to put into motion his plan to "get rid of Nickel" (157)?

5. What happened on Christmas Day that caused the Nickel boys to feel "like boys from nice houses in nice neighborhoods" (116)?

6. What does the set of "Chipwick's British Classics" (84) symbolize within the novel?

7. What "fifth way out of Nickel" (153) did Elwood devise in Chapter 12?

8. What did adult Elwood do with the napkin associated with Chickie Pete and why?

9. What new opportunity did Elwood receive at Nickel due to Turner's recommendation?

10. At what conclusion did Elwood finally arrive when he contemplated the reason for his vicious beating in the White House?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is the topic of political activism treated within The Nickel Boys and how does its treatment relate to the novel's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 2

What message does Whitehead send within the pages of The Nickel Boys concerning the link between oppression and brutality?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Whitehead’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the narrative of The Nickel Boys.

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