Chapter 2 Quiz — Invisible Man
by Ralph Ellison
Comprehension Quiz: Chapter 2
What is the narrator's assigned role in Chapter 2?
- He serves as a tour guide for prospective students visiting the campus
- He works as a personal assistant to Dr. Bledsoe in the administration building
- He chauffeurs Mr. Norton, a wealthy white trustee, during his campus visit
- He delivers a speech at the college chapel to impress visiting benefactors
What does Mr. Norton tell the narrator about his connection to the students?
- He says the students remind him of his own children and bring him fatherly joy
- He says the students are his "fate" and that their success gives him immortality
- He says the students represent the future of American racial harmony and unity
- He says the students are proof that his family's wealth serves a higher purpose
Why is the narrator horrified when the car approaches Jim Trueblood's cabin?
- He is afraid that Trueblood will physically attack Mr. Norton and cause a scene
- He fears the college will blame him for exposing Norton to a part of the landscape the administration hides from visitors
- He knows Trueblood owes the college money and worries Norton will demand repayment
- He recalls a personal conflict with Trueblood that makes the encounter dangerous for him
What happened to Jim Trueblood after the Black community shunned him?
- He moved to the North to escape the shame and start a new life in an industrial city
- He was arrested and served a prison sentence before returning to his cabin
- White people from the area began visiting him with food, clothing, and money to hear his story
- Dr. Bledsoe quietly arranged for him to receive a monthly stipend from the college
How does Trueblood describe the night of his transgression?
- He describes it as a deliberate act driven by anger and desperation after drinking
- He describes it as occurring in a dreamlike state where he was trapped in a warm, dark space he could not escape
- He describes it as a misunderstanding that was exaggerated by the college community
- He describes it as an event he cannot remember because he was in a state of unconsciousness
What does Norton do immediately after hearing Trueblood's story?
- He lectures Trueblood about the importance of moral behavior and personal responsibility
- He tells the narrator to report Trueblood's story to the local authorities immediately
- He gives Trueblood a hundred-dollar bill and then nearly faints, begging for whiskey
- He storms back to the car in disgust and orders the narrator to drive away at once
What literary technique does Ellison use by paralleling Norton and Trueblood as fathers?
- Foreshadowing, hinting at events that will occur in the novel's final chapters
- Doubling, mirroring two characters to expose hidden similarities in their relationships with their daughters
- Allegory, representing abstract political forces through the actions of individual characters
- Stream of consciousness, blending Norton's and Trueblood's internal thoughts into one narrative voice
What does the Founder's statue symbolize in the narrator's recollection?
- The unquestionable triumph of Black education over the legacy of slavery in America
- The ambiguity of Black liberation—the veil may be lifted or lowered more firmly in place
- The personal sacrifice of a single leader who built the college from nothing
- The narrator's deep admiration for the college and everything it represents to him
Which of the following events actually happens in Chapter 2?
- Kate attacks Trueblood with an axe after discovering what he has done
- The narrator confronts Dr. Bledsoe about the college's treatment of Trueblood
- Norton invites Trueblood to speak at the college's next fundraising dinner
- The narrator refuses Norton's order to stop at Trueblood's cabin
Which of the following does NOT happen in Chapter 2?
- Mr. Norton describes his deceased daughter's beauty with romantic intensity
- The narrator drives Norton past the old slave quarters near the college campus
- Dr. Bledsoe personally confronts the narrator for taking Norton to Trueblood's cabin
- Norton gives Trueblood a hundred-dollar bill after hearing his story
In the context of Chapter 2, what does "pariah" mean?
- A respected elder in a rural community who serves as a moral authority figure
- An outcast who is shunned and rejected by the members of their community
- A traveling storyteller in the Southern oral tradition who entertains audiences
- A sharecropper who works land owned by a wealthy landlord or institution
What does "voyeuristic" mean as it applies to Norton's fascination with Trueblood's story?
- Experiencing events through imaginative participation in someone else's life
- Deriving pleasure from observing the private suffering or intimate details of others
- Expressing genuine compassion and sympathy for another person's misfortune
- Maintaining a detached, scholarly interest in sociological phenomena and patterns
What does "paternalistic" mean in the context of Norton's philanthropy?
- Acting with hostility toward those who are less educated or less powerful
- Expressing a philosophical belief in the equality of all human beings
- Providing for others' needs while restricting their freedom, as a father might with children
- Investing money strategically to maximize personal financial returns over time
Comprehension Quiz
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