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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part 1, The Seer and the Seen, Section 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Ellison describe his boyhood experience in Oklahoma?
(a) Poverty stricken existence with little enjoyment.
(b) Very controlled and regimented experience.
(c) Romantic aspirations in the spirit of frontier adventurousness.
(d) Series of mind numbing and violent episodes.

2. What is the origin of the essay "Change the Joke and Slip the Yoke?"
(a) Short story about lynching.
(b) "Invisible Man."
(c) Letter written by Ellison when he was living in Rome to an old friend.
(d) Treatise on the folk art of tying knots.

3. What does Ellison believe writing is?
(a) A way to criticize others.
(b) Mindless activity.
(c) Ethical instrument.
(d) Channeling of higher beings.

4. Why does Ellison choose to analyze William Falkner?
(a) Falkner is very critical of Ellison's novel.
(b) Falkner writes about Negro life with mixed motives but also with great success.
(c) Falkner is a great artist and could not be left out of the discussion.
(d) Falkner is a close personal friend of Ellison.

5. What does Falkner understand about racial social code of the South?
(a) Here today, gone tomorrow.
(b) Destructive to both Negro and white parts of society.
(c) It is fragile and illusionary.
(d) It will never change.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the three themes of "Shadow and Act" according to the Introduction?

2. What folk tradition does Ellison believe the black face figure grows out of?

3. Why does Ellison consider Stephen Crane a great artist?

4. Why do Crane and his wife move to England?

5. For Ellison a primary difference between Twain and Hemingway is what?

(see the answer key)

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