View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Buddy Jackson say that the whites wanted his Masons out of the mysteries?

2. What did Pharaoh do to quiet the crowd?

3. What does Battraville want to do with the man he is looking for?

4. What does Battraville say is after the white people who build highways?

5. What brainstorm does Hinkle Von Vampton have about the Talking Android?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Moses’ concert received?

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

3. What solution does Mr. Mellon propose for containing the Jes Grew?

4. What is PaPaLaBas’ explanation for Abdul Hamid’s action?

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

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

7. What happens when the box with the Book is brought into the party?

8. How are Hank Rollings’ objections to Hinkle Von Vampton and Safecracker Gould’s arrest get resolved?

9. What prevents Hierophant 1 from taking poison?

10. Describe the pendant that Hinkle Von Vampton wears around his neck.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

One of the epigrams to Mumbo Jumbo, from James Weldon Johnson, says that “the words of the Jes Grew songs “were unprintable, but the tune was irresistible, and belonged to nobody.” (p. 7). Who are the various different parties to whom the Jes Grew songs belong? Who embodies them, who participates them, and who renounces them? What makes the Jes Grew claim certain people and not others?

Essay Topic 2

What makes Mumbo Jumbo an American novel? How does Reed define America, and how is his definition of America sustained throughout the action of Mumbo Jumbo? How does Reed account for competing visions of what America is?

Essay Topic 3

Mumbo Jumbo presents a number of different African and African-American arts—minstrel shows, jazz, a cabaret, in addition to poetry and religious fetishes. Which art is most emblematic of the art of Mumbo Jumbo itself? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 818 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample