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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. For how long did the faked contract read that Hominy had been the narrator's slave when he was emancipated?

2. One member of the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals discusses his children being assigned what novel to read in school in Chapter 7?

3. At what time does the narrator say he was summoned to appear in court for his hearing in the Prologue?

4. What is the name of the ghetto community on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles where the narrator grew up?

5. Who does the narrator refer to as the "Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement" in Chapter 10 (127)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Hominy Jenkins described by the narrator?

2. How is the character of King Cuz described?

3. Who is Hampton Fiske and how is he described?

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

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

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

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

8. What happened when the narrator's father attempted an experiment on bystander syndrome when the narrator was a child?

9. How does the narrator describe Hominy's work on the farm in Chapter 6?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the setting of Dickens, California. Where is the long-lost City of Dickens located? Why was the city "deleted"? Where are the boundaries of the city and what is its proximity to other locations described in the greater Los Angeles area?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the depictions of white Americans in The Sellout. How are whites perceived by the inhabitants of Dickens? In what ways do the actions of the narrator and Hominy satirize white American history and culture?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of racism in The Sellout. How does the author develop this theme through setting and characters? How is the theme related to symbolism and imagery in the novel? What statements do you think the author is making about racism? Why?

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