african american literature MCQs – Page 5

Practise focused african american literature questions with marked answers for exam preparation and subject revision.

african american literature Mcqs
81. In the United States, Reconstruction_______________?
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A. Describes the rebuilding after World War I.

B. Is the time period that followed the Civil War.

C. Took place only in the North.

D. Refers to the Civil Rights movement.

82. Etheridge Knights Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane, what is Hard Rocks function in the prison ?
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A. To do what the other inmates were afraid to do.

B. To keep the Blacks and Whites separated.

C. To help the other inmates escape.

D. To win money by fighting.

83. One of the functions of protest poetry was to________________?
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A. Argue that slavery was not so bad for everyone.

B. Encourage societies strive for equality for all.

C. Urge African Americans to fight their oppressors.

D. Extol the virtues of living in the free North.

84. Harriet Jacobs slave narrative Incidents in the Life differs from Harriet Beecher Stowes abolitionist novel Uncle Toms Cabin in what way ?
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A. Uncle Toms Cabin was used by abolitionists.

B. Stowe describes the treatment of slaves.

C. Stowe describes the escape of slaves.

D. Stowes novel is sentimental.
85. In Chapter XV of William Wells Browns Clotel, Clotel is described as a quadroon. What does this mean ?
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A. She is one-quarter Black.

B. She cannot be a slave.

C. She is White.

D. She is one-eighth Black.

86. In Chapter XV of William Wells Browns Clotel, why was Clotel made to cut her long hair ?
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A. To keep the lice away.

B. So that the other slaves would get along with her.

C. So she could sell it.

D. The mistress of the house was afraid her husband would be attracted to Clotel.
87. Who wrote one of the most famous African American poems that begins with what happens to a dream deferred ?
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A. Alice Walker

B. Langston Hughes

C. Etheridge Knight

D. Martin Luther King, Jr.

88. Slave narratives were shaped by_____________?
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A. Captivity narratives.

B. Folktales.

C. African mythology.

D. Abolitionist newspaper accounts.

89. In Chapter XV of William Wells Browns Clotel, what characteristic of the sentimental novel is evident ?
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A. The scene invokes audience sympathy.

B. The heroine has to balance autonomy with self-denial.

C. The heroine conquers her passions.

D. A and B

E. B and C

90. Phillis Wheatleys poetry is considered_____________?
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A. Highly original.

B. Typical of Colonial poetry.

C. Abolitionist in subject.

D. Progressive and challenging.

91. African American dialects grew out of_______________?
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A. Slaves attempts to keep their conversations secret

B. The attempts of African slaves to communicate with each other

C. The 1960s protest movements

D. Slave owners teaching slaves Elizabethan English

92. Race relations in the North are attacked in_______________?
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A. Toni Morrisons Beloved.

B. Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

C. William Wells Browns Clotel.

D. Harriet Wilsons Our Nig.
93. Although Charles Johnsons Oxherding Tales is based on his Buddhist beliefs, he meant the novel to be a reworking of an American genre, the slave narrative. In what way is the novel, despite its philosophical underpinnings, an exemplar of the slave narrative ?
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A. Its emphasis on Christian ideals.

B. Its didactic (teaching) tone of voice.

C. Its characters movement from slavery to freedom.

D. The novels sensationalist scenes of violence.

94. What does the term passing mean ?
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A. To do well on ones schoolwork.

B. The ability of an African American to live as a White person.

C. To leave ones past behind.

D. To gain approval from ones community.

95. In what way is Jane Toomers Cane an example of Modernism ?
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A. Its focus on landscape.

B. Its focus on modern city life.

C. Its fractured, collage effect.

D. Its insistence on plot.

96. Which is not a characteristic of Realism ?
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A. Characters are not as important as plot.

B. Ordinary language is used.

C. Events are plausible.

D. Presentation is objective.

97. In Charles Chesnutts The Goophered Grape Vine, why does Uncle Julius tell the Northern visitors the story of the spell put on the grapes ?
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A. So they wont interrupt his income from the neglected grape harvest.

B. To explain his religious views.

C. To describe the horrors of life on the Post-bellum plantation.

D. To amuse the narrators sickly wife.

98. Some critics argue that the use of dialect by such authors as Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles Chesnutt did all of the following except_______________?
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A. Strengthened the African Americans place in the world of literature

B. Perpetuated stereotypes

C. Showed that African Americans couldnt speak properly.

D. Allowed African American authors to sell their works more widely to white audiences

99. According to Larry Neal, the primary goal of the Black Arts Movement is_______________?
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A. To raise awareness of violence in African American youth.

B. To speak to the spiritual and cultural needs of African Americans.

C. To raise money for Sickle Cell Anemia research.

D. To support the Back to Africa Movement.

100. Alice Walkers novels often explore the abuse experienced by African American women. What is the only abuse Celie does not experience The Color Purple ?
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A. Betrayal by her sister.

B. Betrayal by the educational system.

C. Betrayal by a family member.

D. Betrayal by her community.