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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 city does Richard arrive at in this chapter?

2. What does Richard say he wants his bridge of words to connect with?

3. What role does Richard get at the Federal Relief Theater?

4. Whose teachings do the Garveyites follow?

5. Who gives Richard a sly smile before Richard leaves work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problems does Wright find in New York City?

2. Why does Richard want to read H.L Mencken?

3. What problems does Richard face as publicity agent for the Federal Negro Theater?

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

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

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

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

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

9. What does Richard realize as he stands in line at the relief station?

10. Why does Shorty amuse Richard?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Why did Richard develop sympathies towards the Communist Party? How did Wright view Communist ideas later on in life?

Essay Topic 3

Examine violence in the novel.

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

2) 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?

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