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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. Who is Senator Sunraider's assassin working with?

2. What is Senator Sunraider's first name?

3. The religious revivals of this time period served as what kinds of events?

4. Which character does Senator Sunraider ask for from the hospital?

5. What was Senator Sunraider's first real job?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Hickman want Bliss to rise out of a coffin during their services?

2. What does the senator's final hallucination about the country club symbolize?

3. What moves Sister Georgia in particular about Bliss's life?

4. What kinds of literary techniques does Ellison use when describing Senator Sunraider's childhood memories as he lay dying in his hospital bed?

5. Who does Lorelli think she is after she returns from Europe?

6. In the final chapter of the novel, how is it clear that the senator is in a hallucinatory state?

7. Why is Bliss conflicted over Hickman's strong encouragement to begin preaching at such a young age?

8. What does Hickman consider his permanent home?

9. What makes Bliss so upset about the clown act at the circus?

10. Who does the young boy in the senator's final hallucination represent?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Was Reverend Hickman right in raising Bliss as his own son? Should he have done something differently? Use at least 3 examples from the text to support your position.

Essay Topic 2

Describe three literary devices Ellison uses in the scene where Bliss's mother comes to Hickman's house to give birth. Be sure to use specific quotations from the novel as examples of each literary device.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss at least 3 meanings of the novel's title, using direct evidence from the text when appropriate.

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This section contains 545 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample