Q 01/05

What does the narrator of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man never reveal across twenty-five chapters and an epilogue?

A) His race

B) His name

C) His schooling

D) His hiding place

Answer · why

B) His name

His name never appears, and when the Brotherhood recruits him as a speaker it simply issues him a new one.

Q 02/05

After the fight in Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal, the boys are told to grab coins and bills from what?

A) An electrified rug

B) A greased wooden floor

C) A tub of ice water

D) A bed of hot ashes

Answer · why

A) An electrified rug

An electrified rug is the trap: the boys are jolted as they scramble for the money, and some of the gold pieces turn out to be brass tokens advertisin...

Q 03/05

Why does the narrator of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, who is no ghost, call himself invisible?

A) A lab experiment failed

B) He hides until dark

C) Others refuse to see him

D) He wears a clever disguise

Answer · why

C) Others refuse to see him

Others refuse to see him: nothing is wrong with his body, and he has learned to exploit being overlooked by living rent-free on stolen power.

Q 04/05

In Ralph Ellison's Battle Royal, what are the ten boys made to wear once inside the boxing ring, before the bell?

A) Blindfolds

B) Clown masks

C) Dunce caps

D) Animal costumes

Answer · why

A) Blindfolds

Blindfolds turn the bout into chaos: the classmates swing at one another unseen while a roomful of drunken town leaders yells at them.

Q 05/05

Whose jazz recordings does the narrator of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man play in his hideout during the prologue?

A) Duke Ellington

B) Fletcher Henderson

C) Louis Armstrong

D) Charlie Parker

Answer · why

C) Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong is his choice, and he dreams of owning five phonographs so he can feel one Armstrong record playing on all of them at once.