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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How is building Bigger chose as the lookout point for the money drop described in the story.
(a) A vacant building in the slums.
(b) A white, vacant, quiet building.
(c) A tall, white and silent building.
(d) A large, white building.

2. After Bigger returns to the Dalton home with Mary's trunk, he again goes to check the furnace. Who interrupts him?
(a) Mrs. Dalton and a white private investigator.
(b) The police.
(c) Mr. and Mrs. Dalton and Peggy.
(d) Mr. Dalton and a group of white men.

3. What is Bigger's only regret about what he did to Bessie?
(a) He didn't take back his engagement ring.
(b) He left $90 in her pocket.
(c) He has no regrets.
(d) He regrets she didn't see things his way.

4. What happens when Bigger arrives at Bessie's apartment and he tries to kiss her?
(a) She tells him if he doesn't marry her it means he is ashamed of her.
(b) She argues with him about not being home when she tried to visit him the night before.
(c) She tells him that since he now has a job he can marry her.
(d) She isn't interested because he ignored her at the diner.

5. As Bigger tells his fabricated story about the previous evening to Mr. Dalton and Britten, what is he feeling?
(a) Worried they will find something in his story that doesn't ring true.
(b) So proud of his story he thinks of becoming a fiction writer.
(c) Like he is the one in control because he is telling them what he wants them to believe.
(d) Afraid they won't believe him and that he'll be under suspicion.

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

7. What goes through Bigger's mind when he hears the music from the church?
(a) He hums along, but feeling to peace he gets angry.
(b) He wishes he could be with his mother.
(c) He half wishes he was a believer like his mother, but doesn't want to give up his sense of self.
(d) He hates the music and can't wait to find another apartment.

8. How does Bigger sign the ransom note he has written to Mr. Dalton?
(a) "J. Erlone", with a drawing of a noose
(b) "Red", with a drawing of a hammer and sickle
(c) "Red", with a drawing of a noose
(d) "Better Red than Dead" in red ink

9. On the streetcar on the way to Bessie's apartment what does Bigger want to shout?
(a) That he knew something they didn't know.
(b) That he was lucky to have a good job.
(c) That he was in love with a beautiful girl.
(d) That he killed a rich, white girl.

10. Where does Bigger make his last stand?
(a) He climbs into an apartment window
(b) A roof top
(c) He climbs a water tower
(d) A fire escape

11. How does Bigger feel committing murder has changed his life?
(a) He is afraid he will spend the rest of his life on the run.
(b) He feels it has opened the door to opportunity.
(c) He feels powerful and ready to kill again.
(d) It has given meaning to his life.

12. When Bigger nearly falls off the ledge, how does the writer describe what he would fall into if he had fallen?
(a) "An ocean of boiling hate."
(b) "A boiling pot of hatred."
(c) "The waiting arms of the police."
(d) "An ocean of cheers from the spectators below."

13. Who is Britten?
(a) A private investigator from Mr. Dalton's company.
(b) A neighbor who saw Bigger carrying Mary into the house the night before.
(c) A private investigator Mr. Dalton hired that day to find Mary.
(d) A detective with the Chicago P.D..

14. 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 afraid as compared to Mary's confidence.
(d) He sees his family as a burden compared to new possibilites created by Mary's death.

15. What does Bigger overhear Mrs. Dalton saying to Peggy when she learns her daughter is gone?
(a) She expains that she does not trust the people Mary associates herself with, and suspects they have something to do with Mary not being home.
(b) She complains that she took her daughter shopping for expensive clothing that she didn't even pack for her trip.
(c) She admits she isn't comfortable with Bigger living in the house and wonders if he frightened her daughter away.
(d) She expresses her dislike for the people Mary travels with, and is shocked she hadn't even packed her new clothing for the trip.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Book Two Bigger is feeling very confident and powerful, except when he sleeps and dreams. What does he dream about after his first meeting with Britten.

2. After Bigger leaves Bessie and returns to the Dalton's house what does Peggy tell him to do and why?

3. Where does Bigger first go after leaving his home the morning after Mary's murder?

4. What idea does Bigger get after Bessie mentions he is working near the site of the Leopold and Loeb case?

5. The South Side Real Estate Company is what to Bigger?

(see the answer keys)

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