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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. During the time that the 101st was at Central High School, who drove the students to school?

2. How many New Year's Resolutions did Melba make?

3. What did Grandma India nickname the two white men that watch their house?

4. After the fire drill, who escorted Melba, Carlotta and Thelma to the restroom and cafeteria?

5. What did Melba's old friend Marsha call Melba?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the Little Rock Nine and their families want to meet with School Superintendent Blossom, and what was the result of that meeting?

2. Why did Grandma India want Melba to read about Gandhi?

3. Melba felts lonely at school. Why?

4. Who was Gene Smith and what impression did Melba have of him?

5. Why didn't anyone but Vince show up at Melba's Sixteenth birthday party?

6. What items dear to Melba did she decide to give away at Thanksgiving?

7. What was President Eisenhower's response regarding Central High school integration and the mobs in Little Rock?

8. What were the changes that Melba observed in her fellow students integrating into the school as the harassment continued?

9. Describe Mrs. Pickwick.

10. At the end of 1957, the Associated Press compiled their top stories of the year. What was the number one story and where did the story about Little Rock integration fall?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although Melba and her family expected the white people to be against the efforts at integration, they were surprised to find that many people in their own community also disapproved of their actions. Explain why this is.

Essay Topic 2

The white leaders of Little Rock refer to Little Rock people as "forward-thinking" and a place where white and African American people got along. These leaders thought that racism was not a problem because there hadn't been a lynching in the state for almost ten years. Melba believed the Little Rock of her youth was anything but progressive. Why did she say this? Why was there such a dichotomy in what people believed about 1950s race relations in Little Rock?

Essay Topic 3

Melba wrote in her diary, "Please, God, let me learn how to stop being a warrior. Sometimes I just need to be a girl." Discuss what you think she meant by this.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 793 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample