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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 does Earline’s scarf turn into, when Black Herman throws it on the floor?

2. What modern figure does PaPaLaBas say Isis corresponds to?

3. What miracle did Osiris perform?

4. Who saves Hierophant 1’s life?

5. What was the result of Pharaoh’s action?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Moses’ concert received?

2. What is PaPaLaBas’ explanation of Earline’s seduction of the trolley car driver?

3. What was the meaning of Abdul Hamid’s epigram?

4. What request does Earline make to PaPaLaBas?

5. What strategy does Mellon propose for thwarting the Mu’tafikah?

6. Who is gathered at the Irvington-on-Hudson party?

7. Describe the scene of PaPaLaBas and Black Herman’s arrival at the party.

8. What does Battraville say is the difference between VooDoo in America and VooDoo in Haiti?

9. Describe Woodrow Wilson Jefferson’s departure for home.

10. What caused 50,000 Templars to be murdered in 1307?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Evaluate your own reading of Mumbo Jumbo—did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 2

What would it mean to ‘write down the dance,’ in Mumbo Jumbo? What efforts are made, to record the gestures of the Jes Grew, and why does dancing elude and representation? How does Ishmael Reed address the irony of writing a novel about a dance that cannot be recorded?

Essay Topic 3

In the beginning of Mumbo Jumbo, Reed quotes Louis Armstrong as saying that “the spirit hits them and they follow.” (p. 7). What is the spirit, and where does it lead people in Mumbo Jumbo?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 761 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample