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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happens when the first police officer comes through the trap door to the rooftop?
(a) Bigger runs away.
(b) Bigger knocks him unconscious.
(c) Bigger shootes him.
(d) Bigger throws snowballs at him.

2. After Bigger leaves Bessie and returns to the Dalton's house what does Peggy tell him to do and why?
(a) She tells him to take the day off because everyone is too worried about Mary to need his services that day.
(b) Go the the train station and pick up Mary's trunk because no one claimed it.
(c) To take the trunk to the attic because the Dalton's will start worrying about Mary if they see it.
(d) Go to the train station and find out what has happened to Mary's trunk.

3. Why does Bessie finally agree to help Bigger with his kidnapping scam?
(a) He threatens to murder her family.
(b) He says he will leave her if she doesn't help him.
(c) She is greedy and wants in on the deal.
(d) He says he will give her half the money.

4. How does Mrs. Dalton look when she comes to Bigger's room to question him about Mary's disappearance?
(a) She's wearing black because she knows Mary is dead.
(b) She's dressed in white and she is very pale.
(c) She's dressed in white and she looks suspicious.
(d) She's wearing a white pants suit and has her white hair tied back in a bun.

5. The South Side Real Estate Company is what to Bigger?
(a) The company to whom he pays rent for his family's rat-infested room.
(b) The South Side Real Estate Company is nothing to Bigger.
(c) The company Bigger dreams of one day owning.
(d) The company where Bigger hopes to one day work.

6. Before Bigger puts more coal on the fire, what is he certain he sees in the furnace?
(a) The shape of Mary's body beneath the coals.
(b) The white cat watching him again.
(c) He can't see anything because the light it out.
(d) Peggy watching from the top of the stairs.

7. What things does Mrs. Dalton question Bigger about when she comes to his room?
(a) About where he took Mary the night before.
(b) About Mary leaving her new clothing behind.
(c) About Jan Erlone's involvement with the communists.
(d) About where the car was parked, the trunk and Jan Erlone.

8. How do the police finally catch Bigger?
(a) An officer wrestles with him and wins.
(b) They shoot him in the leg.
(c) They don't, he gets away one more time.
(d) They use a water hose to soak him.

9. What does the white cat do while Bigger is being questioned by the police and reporters?
(a) It keeps looking from the furnace to Bigger and back again.
(b) Jumps on his shoulder and digs in its claws.
(c) Sits staring intently at Bigger.
(d) Jumps on his shoulder, then walks around his feet.

10. How does Bigger compare his family to Mary Dalton?
(a) He sees his family's poor existence compared to Mary's rich life.
(b) He sees his family as alive compared to Mary being dead.
(c) He sees his family as a burden compared to new possibilites created by Mary's death.
(d) He sees his family as afraid as compared to Mary's confidence.

11. Why does Mr. Dalton refuse to have Jan Erlone picked up by the police for questioning?
(a) He is afraid of the bad publicity.
(b) He doesn't want the police invovled because doesn't trust them.
(c) He doesn't think Jan Erlone has anything to do with it.
(d) He's afraid his daughter is just doing this to disgrace the family.

12. What did Buddy tell Bigger happened the night before?
(a) That their mother was happy he got the job.
(b) That Bigger's girlfriend, Bessie, came to see him the night before and talked about marriage.
(c) That he would keep quiet for a price.
(d) That Bigger's girlfriend, Bessie, came to see him and that she was angry he wasn't there.

13. What happens when Bigger first awakens the morning after the murder?
(a) He remembers everything he did the night before.
(b) He tries to sneak out of the house unnoticed.
(c) He sees his brother, Buddy, staring at him suspiciously.
(d) He doesn't think about what happened the night before.

14. Where does Bigger place the ransom note to be certain Mr. Dalton gets it?
(a) On Mr. Dalton's desk in his office.
(b) In the Dalton mail box.
(c) Under the back door.
(d) Under the front door.

15. What does Bigger do to Bessie after they go to the old building to hide?
(a) He rapes her then after she falls alseep kills her with a brick then throws her body down an air shaft.
(b) He sleeps then awakens realizing he must kill Bessie.
(c) He rapes her then cuts off her head like he did Mary's and throws her body down an air shaft.
(d) He smashes her head with a brick then runs away.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Peggy finds Mary is not in her room what does she question Bigger about it, and what does he tell her?

2. When Bigger nearly falls off the ledge, how does the writer describe what he would fall into if he had fallen?

3. While hidden Bigger reads a newspaper about the search for him. Why do the authorities still think Jan Erlone is the mastermind behind the entire murder and ransom?

4. What does Bigger contemplate while standing on the rooftop?

5. How is building Bigger chose as the lookout point for the money drop described in the story.

(see the answer keys)

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