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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 DuBois say we must do if we want to know about the color line?

2. How long did DuBois’ son live before dying?

3. What does DuBois say is the keynote of the Black Belt?

4. Where does DuBois say leadership for blacks will have to come from?

5. Why does DuBois say blacks in the South abandoned politics?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has the price of cotton affected the Black Belt?

2. What does DuBois say is the tragedy of people like Alexander Crummell?

3. How did Alexander Crummell overcome the temptation of Doubt?

4. What is DuBois’ final hope for his book?

5. How does DuBois describe the one-room cabin most blacks live in, in Dougherty county?

6. How does this chapter differ from the previous chapters?

7. Why does DuBois think that his son might have been fortunate to die young?

8. How does DuBois characterize the Preacher in the Southern Negro revival meeting?

9. What vision does DuBois have, of the blacks’ importance in the world economy?

10. How does DuBois say Christianity appealed to the blacks in slavery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the argument DuBois has with Booker T. Washington’s program for Negroes in America? Using examples from the text, describe DuBois’ priorities, and how Booker T. Washington’s plan differs from his. Would DuBois’ plan be likely to be more successful, on the whole?

Essay Topic 2

What is the role of the Sorrow Songs in DuBois’ vision of how American culture could evolve over time? Using examples from the text, particularly from the last chapter, assess the importance of the sorrow song in either removing the Veil or making it bearable.

Essay Topic 3

Use this book as a meditation on the value of a five-star rating system. Is a five-star system sufficient to a book like this? Would you need to have sub-topics for the rating system, for plot, characterization, language, etc? What other sub-topics would you need? What value or importance gets lost in a five-star scale? Design a scale that would be better for this book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 965 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample