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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 was the founder of Portland, Oregon?

2. Who directed the film The Ten Commandments?

3. What was the latest of Foy Cheshire's novel adaptations that he passed around at the Dum Dum Donut Intellectuals meeting in Chapter 19?

4. What does the narrator say that he's seen that were "funnier than my father's [comic] routine in Chapter 17 (206)?

5. How many times does the narrator say he has experienced direct discrimination based on race in Chapter 13?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Jon McJones and where does the narrator encounter him?

2. What does the narrator demonstrate on Career Day at the Chaff Middle School?

3. What emotional disorder does the narrator tell the court he likely has?

4. Who is Charisma Molina and what is her profession?

5. Why have the three cities that Dickens matched with refused to be sister cities?

6. How did the narrator's father attempt to demonstrate racism to him backfire in Chapter 13?

7. What does Marpessa demonstrate on Career Day at the Chaff Middle School?

8. Why does the narrator say he was reluctant to segregate the hospital in Chapter 20?

9. Why does the narrator slip out of the meeting in Chapter 19?

10. How is the narrator's satsuma tree employed as a symbol in the novel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of racism in The Sellout. How does the author develop this theme through setting and characters? How is the theme related to symbolism and imagery in the novel? What statements do you think the author is making about racism? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the narrative style of The Sellout. From what perspective is the story related? Is the narrative related in the present, past, or future tense? Who is the presumed audience of the narrative?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of community as an essential component of identity in The Sellout. In what ways do the inhabitants of Dickens come together in the course of the story? What brings them together? How are their identities shaped by the re-establishment of Dickens?

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