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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin?
(a) George S. Schuyler.
(b) Richard Wright.
(c) Harriet Beecher Stowe.
(d) James Baldwin.

2. Where is Atlanta located?
(a) Georgia.
(b) New York.
(c) Mississippi.
(d) Tennessee.

3. What is not one of the two legends of the "white Gentile" as described by Baldwin?
(a) He has taught the Negro to be inferior.
(b) He treats the Negro like a slave.
(c) He has divided the Jews and Negroes.
(d) He has divided Negro men and women.

4. What was the political affiliation of the Amsterdam Star-News?
(a) Republican.
(b) Independent.
(c) Progressive.
(d) Democrat.

5. What novel does Baldwin criticize as a more modern piece of shallow propaganda from the Negro experience?
(a) Uncle Tom's Cabin.
(b) Black No More.
(c) Carmen Jones.
(d) Native Son.

6. Where did the Melodeers ultimately end up rehearsing for their performances in Atlanta?
(a) YMCA.
(b) A Negro motel.
(c) A private home.
(d) YWCA.

7. According to Baldwin, how does the book Native Son obliterate the good will of the people as a whole?
(a) The good will of the people is obliterated by the story that Negroes are always angry at white men.
(b) The good will of the people is obliterated by the story that white men only like subservient black men and women.
(c) The good will of the people is obliterated by the story of hatred and the idea that Negroes can only become validated if they become more like white men.
(d) The good will of the people is obliterated by the story that stereotypical images share laudatory and heinous qualities with the best possible traits coming to the surface for white consumption.

8. Why does Baldwin criticize the book Native Son?
(a) The book describes the life of a Negro man as if he was a White man.
(b) The book negates the role of the black woman in society.
(c) The book negates the whole race and converts the Negro man's pride into anger.
(d) The book dehumanizes Negro women and makes the Negro man superior to the Negro woman.

9. In what era did James Baldwin write Notes of a Native Son?
(a) Pre-civil rights era.
(b) Civil rights era.
(c) Colonial.
(d) Slavery era.

10. How is the Negro in America referred to in the chapter entitled Many Thousands Gone?
(a) A series of mishaps.
(b) A gloomy mist.
(c) A mass of darkness.
(d) A series of shadows.

11. Why does Baldwin think it is safe for the film Carmen Jones to utilize an all-Negro cast?
(a) The Negroes would see a movie with an all-Negro cast.
(b) There are no white people to which the Negroes may be compared.
(c) The all-Negro cast is less intimidating.
(d) White people do not want to see an interracial cast.

12. According to Baldwin, at what point does the making of an American begin?
(a) At the point that the person enters the country and adopts the venture of the adopted land.
(b) At the point where the individual rejects all other ties and history to other nations and receives their U.S. citizenship from the government.
(c) At the point where the individual rejects all other ties and history to other nations and adopts the venture of the adopted land.
(d) At the point where the individual reaches Ellis Island in New York.

13. How does Baldwin say American life compares to life in other parts of the world in the 1940s?
(a) Life in America moves slower.
(b) Life in America moves at the same pace as other places in the world.
(c) People in America are indifferent to what is going on in other parts of the world.
(d) Life in America moves faster.

14. According to Baldwin, both the Negro and the Jew are characterized as:
(a) Cheerful.
(b) Religious.
(c) Jobless.
(d) Helpless.

15. How does Baldwin describe a "new society" in the book, Notes of a Native Son?
(a) One in which Negros and Whites work together.
(b) One in which Negros resume their slave duties.
(c) One in which inequalities will disappear and vengeance will be exacted.
(d) One in which inequalities change because of protests.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Baldwin, who are the three most important characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin?

2. Why was Uncle Tom's Cabin was written?

3. Why does Baldwin assert that White people contribute to the perpetuation of the stereotypical characters such as Aunt Jemima and Uncle Tom?

4. How are the oppressed and oppressor described in the book, Notes of a Native Son?

5. How is history and the progress of the Negro described in the chapter entitled Many Thousands Gone?

(see the answer keys)

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