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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 does the narrator say his father was in Chapter 1?

2. How large does the narrator say Los Angeles County is?

3. Who killed the narrator's father?

4. What single phrase comprises Chapter 2?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What happened on the occasions where the narrator attempted to emancipate Hominy?

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

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

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

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

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

7. How is the narrative related in The Sellout? From what perspective is the story told?

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

9. Who is Hampton Fiske and 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

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the genre of satire and how it applies to The Sellout. What aspects of the novel's plot are satirical? In what ways? How does irony play a role in the narrative?

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