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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. When Elwood joined the A and M students in a protest during his junior year, they were all fighting to integrate what type of establishments?
2. Though Mr. Marconi had already carried black magazines in his shop, Elwood got him to order what other items tailored to the black community's needs?
3. The end of the Prologue introduces Elwood the Nickel Boy in what way?
4. In what part of Elwood's body did he receive a punch from Black Mike at the scene of Elwood's intervention in the middle of a fight?
5. During what period of Elwood's life did he play a game wherein he tried to guess how may "Negro patrons" (18) were seated in the Richmond Hotel's dining room?
Short Essay Questions
1. What examples does the narrator use to back up the claim that Harriet was rarely able to "make proper goodbyes to her loved ones" (70)?
2. What Christmas present did Elwood receive in 1962 that the narrator described as "the best gift of his life" (11)?
3. For what reason was Elwood unable to get a full night's sleep the day of his arrival at Nickel?
4. How are the themes of brutality and oppression intertwined within Chapter 6?
5. Describe Elwood's family, as it is presented in Chapters 1 through 3.
6. Who was Elwood and what event prompted him to need to return to Nickel?
7. How does Whitehead use personification to depict the way that Harriet tried not to get her hopes up about the progress the black community might make in the wake of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision?
8. In what way does Whitehead intertwine the motif of dreams with the theme of escape within Chapter 7?
9. For what purpose does Whitehead allude to Life magazine within Chapter 2?
10. What was ironic about Harriet's punishment of Elwood upon learning that he had participated in a protest?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Sensory details are used frequently by Whitehead in order to create vivid pictures of the reformatory school central to the narrative of The Nickel Boys. Choose three scenes in which sensory details are heavily used and discuss how the sensory details used serve Whitehead’s creation of an effective novel setting.
Essay Topic 2
Discuss Whitehead’s messages about guilt and responsibility within The Nickel Boys. Focus especially on events such as Harriet’s untimely death one year after her grandson Elwood’s demise.
Essay Topic 3
Examine the role of Elwood's grandmother Harriet within The Nickel Boys. How does Whitehead use Harriet's role to highlight themes included within the overall narrative?
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This section contains 1,289 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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