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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. What word used in the Prologue is an adjective describing a person who is optimistic regardless of the circumstances?

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

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

4. What does the narrator claim to listen to recordings of when he has trouble sleeping in Chapter 1?

5. The narrator describes himself in the Prologue as a "not-so-proud descendant of" the Mees located where (20)?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does the narrator construct a highway sign with the name Dickens on it?

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

4. What are the three basic laws of ghetto physics that the narrator describes in Chapter 3?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Analyze and discuss the protagonist of The Sellout. What is this character's approximate age? What is his profession? What are his actions, objectives, and obstacles in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and analyze the character of Charisma Molina in the novel. How does Charisma know the narrator? What is her profession? How is Charisma involved in the central plot of the novel?

(see the answer keys)

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