View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Big Boy grab Bobo?

2. What did the white children throw at Wright and his friends?

3. What does Heartfield demand from Mann?

4. Who does Mann kill in this section?

5. What does Mann ask Bob to sell?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the confrontation between Wright and the night watchman.

2. What happens to a black bellboy who has sex with a white prostitute?

3. What happens to Wright when his boss tells him to deliver groceries to a white neighborhood after dark?

4. Describe the encounter Wright has with some white boys when he gets a flat tire.

5. What subjects can Wright not discuss with his white employees in Memphis?

6. Why do Wright's co-workers at the optical factory not like him?

7. Why do Big Boy's friends not want to go to the swimming pool?

8. Why does the white hospital staff laugh in this chapter?

9. Describe the confrontation between Mann and Heartfield.

10. What does Wright say his mother taught him in the opening section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the relationship between education and racist attitudes.

1) How important is education in teaching children about the dangers of racism?

2) How has education played an important part in changing racial attitudes?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the religious connotations in the book.

1) How does Wright represent black people's relationship with Christianity?

2) Why does Sue change her Christian faith for Communism?

Essay Topic 3

Examine Wright's writing style. How would you describe his prose style? What kind of vocabulary does he use? Does he use any specific writing techniques? What meaning does Wright's style give to his story?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 754 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample