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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 character working in the hospital basement scares Richard?

2. Who throws Richard out of the May Day parade?

3. What is Matther's nickname?

4. What do the black Communists brand Wright as?

5. Where does Richard move to?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the black Communists mock Richard?

2. In what way does Richard's situation take a turn for the worse when the Great Depression hits America?

3. How do the white man and black man use Richard to help them move the liquor?

4. How do the white employers at the optical factory arrange a boxing match between Richard and Harrison?

5. How do Richard's co-workers react when he tells them he is moving North?

6. Why does Mrs. Moss end up disgusting Richard?

7. Why do Richard's fellow comrades begins to shun him?

8. Who was Marcus Garvey?

9. Why does Shorty amuse Richard?

10. What happens when Richard joins the May Day parade?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Pick one of the following characters and examine his/her influence on molding Richard's character.

1) Richard's mother

2) Richard's father

3) Richard's grandmother

4) Aunt Maggie

5) Alan

Essay Topic 2

Examine Wright's writing style. How would you describe the prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? Does he use any specific writing techniques? What meaning does Wright's style give to his story?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the differences between the Jim Crow system and slavery.

1) What were the differences between the Jim Crow system and slavery?

2) In what way does Wright present the Jim Crow system as hypocritical and no better than slavery?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 802 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample