View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What month was it that the narrator was trying to grow potatoes in Chapter 18?

2. What did Marpessa throw at Foy Cheshire, according to the narrator in Chapter 17?

3. What city is described as "the City That Never Stops Bleeding" by the narrator in "City Lites, An Interlude"?

4. What is describe as "the hillbilly neighborhood about ten miles north of Dickens" in Chapter 14 (180)?

5. What does the narrator say is the "beauty of minstrelsy" in Chapter 15 (188)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is burned at the ending of Career Day at Chaff Middle School? Why?

2. How does the narrator define sister cities in "City Lites: An Interlude"?

3. Where does the narrator describe his father taking him in order to show him that racism still exists?

4. How does the narrator respond to the autographed book he receives in Chapter 19? What is the book?

5. How did the narrator's father attempt to demonstrate racism to him backfire in Chapter 13?

6. What is Wheaton Academy and what role does it play in the plot of The Sellout?

7. What actions does the narrator describe taking with Hominy in order to restore segregation in Dickens in Chapter 20?

8. What does the apple tree symbolize in Chapter 18?

9. Why do the neighborhood children gather in the narrator's yard in Chapter 15?

10. How is the narrator's satsuma tree employed as a symbol in the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the narrative style of The Sellout. From what perspective is the story related? Is the narrative related in the present, past, or future tense? Who is the presumed audience of the narrative?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 668 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample