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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 happens to Emperor Jones when he sees the apparition in the third forest scene?

2. Where does Emperor Jones go at the end of this first scene outside the palace?

3. What does Emperor Jones hear in the forest?

4. Which answer describes Jeff's movements?

5. How does the second forest scene open?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Emperor Jones do when he understands what the figure in the sixth forest scene's apparition wants from him?

2. Why was Emperor Jones foolish to fire his gun at the formless fears?

3. Describe the structure at the center of the stage as the sixth forest scene opens.

4. Describe Emperor Jones' appearance in the first scene.

5. What is the significance of Emperor Jones' clothing in the fifth forest scene?

6. What progress, if any, has Emperor Jones made in the fifth forest scene?

7. Describe the setting where the final scene opens.

8. What is it that gives Emperor Jones the courage to act in the fourth forest scene?

9. What effect do the formless fears have on Emperor Jones?

10. What happens at the beginning of the second forest scene to ease Emperor Jones' fears?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Henry Smithers is the only white man in the play, and the witch doctor and Lem and the old woman in the first scene are the only natives with speaking roles. Compare and contrast the roles of the white and black characters. How are they the same? How are they different? What difference does skin color make in this play? What can Smithers do that the natives cannot, and vice versa? Are these characters presented as individuals, or as typifying their respective races?

Essay Topic 2

Citing specific instances from the text, describe three literary devices O'Neill uses in Emperor Jones. These might include foreshadowing, characterization, symbolism, dialect, metaphor, etc. How does the literary device appear in the play? How does it enhance the plot, building the play toward a crisis and then resolving that crisis?

Essay Topic 3

What do we know about characters through how they speak? How does Emperor Jones' speech change throughout the play? What does the change in his speech tell us about his experience? What other voices do we hear? Do they change as well?

(see the answer keys)

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