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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 Wright do to avoid saying thank you?

2. Who is going to give Big Boy and Bobo a lift out of town?

3. Who is the main character in this chapter?

4. What takes Lulu to the hospital?

5. Who meets Mann in town?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Bob say is the situation in town?

2. What problems does Mann have a the beginning of the chapter?

3. How does this chapter show the four teenage boys as innocent?

4. How do Wright's co-workers at the factory contrive to get rid of him?

5. How do people in the clothing store react to the black women being beaten?

6. Describe Wright's work as a bellboy.

7. What are Big Boy and his friends doing in this chapter?

8. What does Mann think about when he raises his ax to kill the family?

9. Why do Big Boy's friends not want to go to the swimming pool?

10. Describe the confrontation between Wright and the night watchman.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Identify the main themes of the story. Why do you think these themes are so important to the story? How does Wright use character and setting to express his themes?

Essay Topic 2

Examine violence in the novel.

1) What are differences in the stories between how black people are violent and how white people are violent?

2) In what way does the violence play an important part in getting Wright's view across?

3) How do the students think the public reacted to the novel's violence when it was first published? How would the public react to such a book today?

Essay Topic 3

Was the police's attitude toward black people largely responsible for white society's treatment of black people in general? What laws did black people have to obey in the South in comparison to whites? How has the relationship between the police and black people caused major problems in America in recent times?

(see the answer keys)

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