Black Boy Part I quiz
1. Richard sets fire to:
A. his house
B. a white man’s house
C. his neighbor’s house
D. granny’s house
2. Richard’s mother is
thankful that Richard did not die in the fire. She then:
A. fixes his favorite dinner
B. beats him with a tree limb
C. sends him to live with friends in
D. pretends it never happened
3. The family moves to a
tenement in
A. gets a job at a gas station
B. beats his brother for making noise
C. kills a meowing kitten
D. making more money than his father by panhandling
4. When his father abandoned
the family, Richard discovered:
A. hunger
B. a desire to write
C. a desire to move
D. the joy of freedom
5. Richard’s mother teaches
him a valuable lesson when sending him to the store.
A. he was the man of the house and had to do the
shopping
B. count his change before leaving the store
C. face his fear; stand up and fight for himself
D. take care of his brother
6. Early in his sixth year,
Richard
A. becomes an alcoholic
B. starts school
C. lives with his father
D. invites all his friends to his birthday party
7. Richard begins school and
A. is paralyzed with fear in the classroom
B. learns many “interesting” words in the playground
C. is eager to share his new knowledge
D. all of the above
8. At the end of chapter 1, what
is Richard’s adult reaction to his father?
A. hateful
B. pitying
C. fearful
D. loving
9. Richard reacts to the
story the young schoolteacher tells him by:
A. being distracted and losing interest
B. being totally engrossed and interested
C. having nightmares and crying each night
D. wanting to read the Bible
10. What do we know about
Granny that might explain why she calls those stories the “Devil’s work”?
A. She’s deeply religious
B. She’s illiterate
C. She prays a lot
D. all of these
11. Richard learns the
tremendous power of words in this chapter. Words caused:
A. another beating from his mother
B. granny kicks Ella out of the house
C. his family denounces him
D. all of these
12. Richard’s Uncle Hoskins
owns a bar and
A. is murdered by whites
B. invites Richard to work in the bar
C. raises Richard as his son
D. makes Richard’s life very pleasant
13. Which statement accurately describes
Richard’s relationship with granny?
A. it is affectionate
B. it is practically non-existent, since they rarely
interact
C. they do not have a relationship, as she died
before his birth
D. it is filled with conflict and hostility
14. According to Richard, how
is black culture transmitted from one household to another?
A. by insurance agents who go door-to-door selling
policies
B. through their belief in God
C. through conversation within the gang
D. from within the workplace
15. How does Richard react to
his mother’s first stroke?
A. he begins to feel that the world is a hostile
place
B. he becomes extremely religious because the church
offers him comfort and security
C. he develops close ties with the black community
and his family
D. he becomes depressed and suicidal
16. Which of the following
best describes Richard’s childhood?
A. it is characterized by grinding poverty
B. it is characterized by isolation and loneliness
C. it is characterized by frequent, sudden moves
D. all of these
17. Richard states that at age twelve he was
profoundly changed. What did he discover about life that changed him?
A. being black made him a better person
B. meaning of life came only when one was struggling
to wring a meaning out of meaningless suffering
C. the meaning of life came through religion and
devotion to family
D. his longing for writing came from readings from
the Bible
18. Richard’s teacher, Aunt
Addie, intends to beat Richard at home because:
A. Richard is not religious
B. Richard lies
C. she suspected Richard of eating walnuts in the
classroom
D. Richard called her Aunt Addie in the classroom
E. all of these
19. Which of the following
stories was Richard’s first attempt at writing?
A. a detective story
B. a story of an Indian maiden who dies in a river
C. cowboys on a roundup
D. a young boy and a slave run away from
20. Richard’s grandfather is
embittered and disappointed because:
A. he knows he is terminally ell and about to pass
away without having accomplished his goal of being a writer
B. he never received his pension for his service in
the military
C. he has no properly raised grandchildren who are proud
of their heritage
D. his life insurance policy was never awarded to hi
because of false policy
21. How did Richard’s family
react to his sixth grade promotion?
A. they were happy and had a party
B. they didn’t believe a boy as bad as he was could do
it
C. they thanked Aunt Addie because they thought she
had promoted him even though he didn’t deserve it
D. they ignored it. No one really cared what happened
to him
22. Why did Richard sell the
anti-Negro newspapers?
A. his grandmother forced him to do it
B. it was his misguided form of social protest
C. he didn’t know the content; he just wanted to read
the magazine section of stories and to make a little money
D. some white boys he knew had threatened to hurt his
mother and grandmother if he didn’t sell the papers
23. Why did Addie say she
would kill Richard?
A. she found out he was organizing the other students
against her
B. she blamed Richard for Granny’s accident
C.
there was not enough money for food, and she was desperate. She reasoned that
it would be one less mouth to feed.
D. she was obsessed with the thought that he was evil
and should be destroyed
24. Who was brother Manse?
A. he was an assistant deacon at the church
B. he was Richard’s new teacher
C. he was another friend who came to live with
Richard
D. he was Richard’s next door neighbor who gave him a
job of reading and writing for him in his insurance work
25. What did Richard gain
from his association with Brother Manse?
A. he learned the insurance business
B. he made a lot of money that enabled him to move
out of his grandmother’s house
C. he gained thirty pounds because Brother Manse was
always feeding him
D. he gained a new outlook on life and a little
self-respect