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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the accompanist Ryan meets in Chapter 12 who was once a child prodigy on the piano?

2. Why does Adrian leave the home he was sharing with Valerie and Ryan in Chapter 9?

3. In what year did Marian Anderson sing at the Met for the first time?

4. Who wrote the play The Emperor Jones?

5. Which opera does Ryan see on his first visit to the Met as a high school student?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 11, how does Ryan's budding relationship with the red-headed soprano work out?

2. What was wrong with the area that Valerie and Ryan move to, the little green shack, in a town outside of Norfolk?

3. Why does Ryan like spending time at his friend Jared Poulter's house in high school?

4. In Chapter 9, what effect does the black opera singer Eric Owens say race has on the career of opera singers?

5. How does Gayletha Nichols describes Ryan's appeal to other people in Chapter 14?

6. What happens to Ryan on the night of November 4, 2008, when Barack Obama is elected president?

7. Why does it bother Ryan so much when people ask him to sing the song Ol' Man River?

8. What does Noda say is the greatest part of Ryan's appeal as a singer?

9. Why does Ryan join the Latin club and deliberately start making friends with white students in school when he is released from the juvenile detention center?

10. Why did the child piano prodigy Ken Noda abruptly stop performing piano concerts?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ryan's mother, Valerie, was offered the opportunity for a promising career in the military, but this did not come to fruition. Write an essay analyzing how Valerie's life took some turns toward the worst and how her life's path affected Ryan.

Essay Topic 2

Mrs. Bette Hughes, a teacher of Ryan's from elementary school, has a very significant impact on Ryan's life. Write an essay discussing Mrs. Hughes's significance in Ryan's life.

Essay Topic 3

Ryan's family is perplexed when they realize he is serious about studying opera, to the point that his aunt Esther says "Isn't that a white thing?" (118). Write an essay analyzing the reasons Bergner puts forward explaining why black opera singers are still facing a more difficult road in building successful careers at the highest levels of opera.

(see the answer keys)

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