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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. Cudjo's mother in Africa had given him what name?

2. Who owned and sailed in command of the Clotilde ship at the time Cudjo was aboard it?

3. What crop does Cudjo say he plants only for the benefit of his twin great-granddaughters?

4. At the time of the interviews, Cudjo was living in what town in Alabama?

5. What objects are required to be brought to the king once a leopard has been killed, according to Cudjo?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the death rituals Cudjo describes as being followed within his former African community.

2. What major event happens within Cudjo's family in the story he tells at the start of Chapter III?

3. How old is Cudjo at the time he is first interviewed by Zora Neale Hurston and what special problems does his age pose to Hurston's process?

4. After Cudjo tells Hurston about his grandfather, what happens to make Hurston cut their visit short for the day?

5. What are the circumstances of Zora Neale Hurston first meeting with Cudjo?

6. Explain the customs followed by the wives of a deceased man in Cudjo's former African community.

7. What is the significance of the year 1859 in Cudjo's life?

8. What does Cudjo say about secrecy within his former community in Africa?

9. Cudjo discusses a particular practice undertaken by rich men's daughters in his former community in Africa. What is that practice he describes?

10. At what age does Cudjo describe leaving Africa, and what does he say about the number of initiation rites he had completed by that time?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the theme of deception arise within the text of Hurston's book Barracoon and what messages are sent about the presence of deception within the human condition?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the author's and interviewee’s use of Aristotle's appeals within the book Barracoon. How do Zora Neale Hurston and her interviewee Cudjo use each of the three appeals to persuade the reader of argumentative points central to the tenets of the work?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the difficulties Hurston faced as she tried to get Barracoon published. Ultimately, create an argument revolving around the benefits provided to American society through the publication of the book Barracoon.

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