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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. Which of the following does the narrator note his company serves?

2. Which of the following is the height of the Sky Tower?

3. To which of the following does the narrator compare Dred Douglas?

4. Which of the following does the narrator posit inhabits “the entire South beyond my hometown” (44)?

5. Which of the following does the narrator report as the mascot of the team that defeated his in high school?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reasons does the narrator express for seeking Jo Jo’s help with Octavia’s campaign?

2. What is the basic plan the narrator and Jo Jo have to get material for Octavia’s campaign?

3. How does the narrator note that Penny and his mother regarded each other initially?

4. What reasons does the narrator give for having distanced himself from Supercargo?

5. What inspirations does the narrator cite for his dancing at Octavia’s mansion?

6. How does Jo Jo describe Polaire to the narrator when he first meets her?

7. What after-school activities is Nigel involved in at the beginning of the novel?

8. To what does the narrator ascribe Supercargo’s trouble with authorities?

9. What does the narrator note the Racing Form tracks?

10. What does the narrator note had been done to the face of his bellhop at Shanksted?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Consider the following comment: “Memories could be questioned, distorted, forgotten. But a transcript could not. The physical act of remembering is a bulwark against insanity” (128). Is the comment correct? What in the novel and experience suggest as much, and how do they do so?

Essay Topic 2

Sources attest to the presence of We Cast a Shadow on bestseller lists. Assuming that sales figures reflect popularity, what accounts for the popularity of Ruffin’s novel? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Early on, the narrator notes the contents of Octavia’s library, which include Eyes without a Face, The Hip Hop Ontologist’s View of Leda and the Swan, and Blackstone’s Law; Octavia notes that the books are “real, but mainly for effect” (8). What effect are they likely to have, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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