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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. How much money does the narrator say he spent on his suit in the Prologue?

2. What date did the narrator use on his emancipation of Hominy in Chapter 6?

3. What single phrase comprises Chapter 2?

4. What word from the novel refers to something formed of a single large block of stone?

5. When was the town where the narrator grew up founded?

Short Essay Questions

1. When and where do the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals meet?

2. How is the character of King Cuz described?

3. Why does the black woman slap the narrator in the Prologue?

4. How does the narrator describe Hominy's birthday celebration?

5. What does the narrator remark about mottos in the Prologue?

6. What setting is established in the novel's Prologue? How is it described?

7. How does the narrator describe his father in Chapter 1?

8. How did the community respond when the narrator began his process of marking the boundaries of Dickens?

9. Who is the unofficial leader of the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals? How is he described?

10. Where does the narrator describe taking Hominy for "beatings" each Thursday?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the events on Career Day at the Chaff Middle School. What does Marpessa demonstrate for the students? What does the narrator's demonstration consist of? How does the day conclude?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the theme of community as an essential component of identity in The Sellout. In what ways do the inhabitants of Dickens come together in the course of the story? What brings them together? How are their identities shaped by the re-establishment of Dickens?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss depictions of racism in popular entertainment in The Sellout. What television shows, films, commercials, etc. are referenced or alluded to by the narrator? What racism or racist attitudes are described in these examples?

(see the answer keys)

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