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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 realization does the narrator have in Chapter 21?

2. What decision does the narrator accept for the time period that will be needed to clear the charges against him?

3. What fault does Emma find with the narrator?

4. Why does the narrator try to hide the figurine from Mary?

5. The narrator has learned that a person must approach the world with

Short Essay Questions

1. Brother Jack refers to Clifton as Brutus? How does the metaphor fit the situation?

2. What is meant by "white fever"?

3. To what does Brother Tarp attribute the warning letter?

4. Why does Jack become angry with the man who asks the narrator to sing a "spiritual"?

5. What is the narrator's intention in speaking up for the black couple who have been evicted?

6. Explain the initial results of the narrator's strategy of "yessing" them to death.

7. How does Emma's conversation create a sense of foreboding?

8. What was the narrator's real problem, and how has he settled it?

9. Explain the irony of the figurine owned by Mary.

10. In what way could the new shoes be symbolic?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Early in the novel, the narrator endures a non-surgical pre-frontal lobotomy that is supposed to erase his memories, make him a more pliable worker, and prevent him from bringing charges against the factory. He does change after the experience, but not exactly in the way usually expected of a lobotomy. Discuss the changes that begin taking place. What changes are permanent? What changes seem to occur gradually? Do they make the narrator a better man?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the women in the novel: Mary, Emma, Sybil, the nuns, and the white woman at the rally. What role do the women play in the narrator's development?

Essay Topic 3

Blindness is one of the most pervasive motifs of the novel. Discuss the different types of blindness that are represented by the characters, for example, Norton, Mary, the two nuns, Brother Jack, Ras, the narrator himself, and others. Choose three or four characters that represent different types of blindness and explain how their blindness influences their actions and decisions. Is there anyone in the novel who sees clearly, whether he uses his sight for good or for evil purposes?

(see the answer keys)

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