Black Boy Quizzes

Black Boy Quiz 1

By Andrea Tao · Last reviewed June 23, 2000

1 Identify the speaker of the following passage: "I never heard a sassier black imp than you in all my life."

Mr. Olin

Uncle Clark

Uncle Tom

Mr. Crane
2 Which of the following is an example of the theme of isolation:

To Richard, Granny looks like she is as white as any other white person.

Leon leaves with Aunt Maggie for the North when Ella becomes extremely ill.

The South Side section communists throw Richard out of the May Day Parade.

Richard is afraid to tell his boss at the café that Tillie is spitting in the food.
3 Which of the following titles was Richard's first attempt at writing?

Hell Hath No Fury

The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre

Riders of the Purple Sage

Native Son
4 Richard's grandfather is embittered and disappointed because:

He never received his pension for his service in the military.

He has no properly raised grandchildren who are proud of their heritage.

His life insurance policy was never awarded to him because of a false policy.

He knows that he is terminally ill and about to pass away without having accomplished his goal of becoming a writer.
5 What aspect o the Communist speakers in Washington Park baffles and angers Richard?

The fact that they preached falsely and ignorantly.

Their deliberately careless personal appearance.

The Communists had promised to bring Richard into their literary circle.

Their lack of courage and wisdom.
6 Why does Richard begin to bootleg liquor in the hotel?

To come into close proximity of the white prostitutes.

To escape the Jim Crow laws by not obeying the laws set by whites.

To amass a substantial amount of money.

To have the satisfaction of walking past a white policeman, knowing he was breaking the law.
7 Complete the following passage regarding the white waitresses at the Chicago café where Richard works: "I did not feel any __________ for the girls, nor any _________. For the most part I was silent with them, though I knew that I had a firmer grasp of

Pain; envy

Love; hate

Admiration; disgust

Admiration; hate
8 What is the title of Comrade Young's document of the history of the human race?

A Pictorial Record of Man's Economic Process

A Marxist View of Man's Evolution

The Human Race: Emotions and Politics

The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre
9 Identify the speaker of the following passage: "I'm not trying to fight you with my writing. I've no political ambitions. I'm not trying to hurt or help any particular comrade."

Buddy Nealson

Comrade Young

Richard Wright

Ross
10 Why does Richard want to be a Communist?

Richard's lifestyle is suited by the non-materialistic ideas of the Communist Party.

He feels that Communism has a strong potential as an ideology that will help overcome ignorance.

He wants to shape people's feelings and awaken their cultural and emotional selves.

He feels that Communism promotes a sense of unity among the black community, which he has never felt before.
11 Why does Richard feel that Uncle Tom has no right to punish or beat him?

Uncle Tom tries to treat Richard as if he were a black servant on a plantation by breaking his spirit.

Richard feels isolated from his relatives and that Uncle Tom has broken the barrier of his isolation.

Richard's violent nature has taught him to fight in order to be accepted, and so he behaves similarly with his relatives.

Uncle Tom is considered a traitor to the Communist party, a Trotskyite.
12 Why is Richard raised eating lard and gravy?

His mother is a Seventh Day Adventist and rarely cooks meat.

Richard feels too embarrassed to eat meals with Mrs. Moss and Bess.

His mother belongs to a Methodist church and rarely cooks meat.

His grandmother is a Seventh Day Adventist and rarely cooks meat.
13 According to Richard, how is black culture transmitted from one household to another?

From within the workplace.

Through conversation within the gang.

By insurance agents who go door-to-door selling policies.

Through their belief in God.
14 When Richard is fifteen, why does he begin to falter in his schoolwork?

He requires the use of glasses.

He doesn't understand what the teacher is saying.

He is not physically strong enough.

He decides to socialize with a gang.
15 Why does Richard decide to interview Ross?

Because he feels he does not have a large grasp on common Negro culture.

To gather information for a book of biographical sketches.

As part of a project for the Communist movement.

All of the above.
16 Why does Richard move to live with his grandmother?

Ella has a stroke and falls too ill to take care of him.

It is easier for him to obtain a job when living with his grandmother.

He has always wanted to see the North.

His grandmother lives closer to Jackson, where his father is stationed.
17 Who warns his children not to speak with Richard?

Brother Mance

Aunt Maggie

Uncle Tom

Uncle Clark
18 Where was Richard Wright born?

Mississippi

Missouri

Illinois

Louisiana
19 What does Richard's mother do when he tells her that he is hungry?

She gives him lard and gravy.

She tells him to "catch a kungry."

She tells Grandfather to beat him.

She tells him to live with his father.
20 Complete the following passage: "Money, God, race, sex, color, war, planes, machines, trains, swimming, boxing, anything... The __________ of one black household was thus transmitted to another black household..."

Folk tradition

Hatred

Culture

Attitudes
21 Before Richard gives his graduation speech, what does he do in preparation?

Write his speech on blank, white paper.

Purchase a long-pants suit.

Ask the principal to edit his speech.

Pray to God for forgiveness and hope.
22 Wright criticizes the black community for their lack of unity and instability therefor. Complete the related passage in which Wright discusses his criticism: "I used to mull over the strange absence of _____________ in Negroes, how unstable was our tende

Real culture

Intellectual curiosity

Real kindness

Real joy
23 After Richard's first day at Howard Institute, what does he learn?

How to fight.

How to play "pop the whip."

New swear words.

How to drink.
24 What effect does Wright achieve by splitting Black Boy into two parts?

Wright emphasizes the duality between the North and the South.

Wright is able to reflect upon the theme of isolation.

Dividing the novel into parts is symbolic of Richard's ambivalent behavior.

None of the above.
25 Who does Mr. Olin pay Richard to fight with?

Griggs

Harrison

Leon

Brande

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