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Mississippi Trial, 1955 Unit Test

Total questions: 63

Worksheet time: 34mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Emmett Till's personality could be described as...

a)

an ignorant peckerwood

b)

fun loving & free spirited

c)

disrespectful and rude

d)

smart and nerdy

2.

Author's purpose-- Why did the author, Chris Crowe, write this book?

a)

To tell Hiram Hillburn's tragic story, since it was left out of the history books.

b)

To educate kids about the civil rights movement.

c)

Because he likes murder mysteries.

d)

To tell Emmett Till's tragic story, since it was left out of the history books.

3.

Emmett Till's body was found in the...

a)

Yazoo River

b)

Mississippi Delta

c)

Tallahatchie River

d)

cotton fields in which his uncle Mose sharecropped.

4.

What was tied around the neck of Emmett's body?

a)

a necktie

b)

a noose

c)

a confession

d)

a gin fan

5.

How did Uncle Mose Wright identify the corpse as Emmett Till's?

a)

There was no facial hair on the body.

b)

Emmett's tatoo

c)

Emmett's father's ring was on the body (finger).

d)

The body had on Emmett's clothing

6.

Who were the two men that were charged with the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till?

a)

Earl Hillburn

b)

RC Rydell

c)

JW Milam

d)

Roy Bryant

7.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- Emmett Till?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

8.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- RC Rydell?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

9.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- Sheriff Strider?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

10.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- Attorneys Chatham & Breland?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

11.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- Gramma & Grampa Hillburn?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

12.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- Ralph & Ronnie Remington?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

13.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- JW Milam & Roy Bryant?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

14.

Fictional or nonfictional character-- Hiram Hillburn?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

15.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Mr. Paul?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

16.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Chester?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

17.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Willie Reed?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

18.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Naomi Rydell?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

19.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Mose Wright?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

20.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Ruthanne Parker?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

21.

Fictional or nonfictional character--Caroline Bryant?

a)

fictional character

b)

nonfictional character

22.

What two forms of figurative language exist in the following quote? "Mose Wright stood as calm as Jesus on stormy water."

a)

simile

b)

metaphor

c)

idiom

d)

allusion

23.

Why is Emmett Till known as the "Sacrificial Lamb of the Civil Rights Movement"?

a)

He was black.

b)

He was fuzzy like a lamb.

c)

He was a black boy who was murdered by white supremacists, in the Jim Crow South, and his death gave the Civil Rights Movement momentum.

d)

His death happened just before the civil rights movement started.

24.

What did the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education declare?

a)

Separate but equal is the best policy for schools

b)

All schools should offer bus transportation

c)

Black schools in the South were superior

d)

Racially segregated schools are unconstitutional.

25.

What was the main purpose for Chris Crowe to create the character, Grampa, Earle, Hillburn?

a)

Common Mississippian of 1955 & the unidentified 3rd man involved in Emmett's kidnapping and murder.

b)

Hiram needed someone to visit, so he'd be in Mississippi to attend the trial for Emmett's murderers.

c)

Romance

d)

To show the white landowner

26.

What was the main purpose for Chris Crowe to create the character, Naomi Rydell?

a)

A kid Hiram's age for Hiram to hang out with and be friends.

b)

Hiram needed someone to visit, so he'd be in Mississippi to attend the trial for Emmett's murderers.

c)

Romance

d)

To show that not everyone in Mississippi was racist.

27.

What was the main purpose for Chris Crowe to create the character, RC Rydell?

a)

A kid Hiram's age for Hiram to hang out with and be friends.

b)

Hiram needed someone to visit, so he'd be in Mississippi to attend the trial for Emmett's murderers.

c)

Romance

d)

To show that Jim Crow Southern ideals were passed down through the generations, & a red herring that places Hiram at the trial.

28.

What was the purpose of the characters Ronnie and Ralph Remington?

a)

Comic relief & someone to tell Hiram the truth about Grampa.

b)

Hiram needed someone to visit, so he'd be in Mississippi to attend the trial for Emmett's murderers.

c)

To show that not all Mississippians were racist.

d)

To show that Jim Crow Southern ideals were passed down through the generations, & a red herring (mystery).

29.

Why was Mr. Paul's character included in this story?

a)

Comic relief & someone to tell Hiram the truth about Grampa.

b)

Hiram needed someone to visit, so he'd be in Mississippi to attend the trial for Emmett's murderers.

c)

To show that not all Mississippians were racist.

d)

To be Hiram's voice of reason and/or Hiram's dad's perspective (anti-racist) in a Mississippi man whom Hiram respects.

30.

What is the best theme for the novel, Mississippi Trial, 1955?

a)

Hate

b)

Racism

c)

Father & son relationships

d)

The art of peckerwooding

31.

In chapter 3 Gramma died. Why did the author have to take Gramma out of the story in the exposition?

a)

She was the buffer between Hiram and Grampa & Grampa & Harlan.

b)

So Ruthanne would have a reason to be there.

c)

So Hiram would have to leave Greenwood and not return until 1955.

d)

Because she wasn't a necessary character.

32.

How does Hiram initially hear of the trouble in Money?

a)

The radio

b)

RC tells him there was trouble with a strange boy up to Bryant's store.

c)

The Greenwood Commonwealth

d)

The Sheriff's deputy told him, over the phone, that it was a boy from Chicago.

33.

How could the author imply one of his fictional characters as a man involved in the torture and murder of Emmett Till?

a)

Because it's fiction

b)

Because there was a third, unidentified man, in the actual case.

c)

Because someone had to have been the 3rd man.

d)

Because Grampa really was the 3rd man.

34.

When Sheriff Strider testifies he tries to convince the court that it wasn't Emmett Till's body that was recovered from the river. Who did he say it was and what were the circumstances behind it all?

a)

The NAACP dug up a body and put it in the river.

b)

Some random body with Emmett's ring—placed in the river by Northern rabble-rousers.

c)

It wasn't even human.

d)

He said it was the body of a 90-year old sharecropper who tied a gin fan around his own neck and tried to swim across the Tallahatchie.

35.

What events foreshadow the possibility R.C.'s involvement in Emmett's abduction and murder?

a)

RC disappearing after Emmett was abducted.

b)

RC attacking Emmett at the river then saying he was going to help straighten out a Northern boy.

c)

Hiram calling the sheriff.

d)

Grampa telling Hiram that he hoped RC wasn't involved.

36.

What foreshadows the possibility of Grampa's involvement in Emmett's abduction and murder?

a)

Grampa yelling at the black sharecropper.

b)

Late night "Council" meetings, lending out the truck, thumbs up from Milam in court, and selling his truck.

c)

Grampa visiting Mr. Cristler at the courthouse, telling Hiram that Emmett caused his own trouble, and trying to keep Hiram from testifying.

d)

Emmett being killed, Milam and Brant being arrested, and the articles in the Greenwood Commonwealth.

37.

Define protagonist

a)

the main character

b)

the force of conflict against the main character

c)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

d)

the solution to the main conflict

38.

Define antagonist

a)

the main character

b)

the force of conflict against the main character

c)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

d)

the solution to the main conflict

39.

Define central conflict

a)

the solution to the central conflict

b)

the force of conflict against the main character

c)

the one plot event that makes the central conflict possible- that pits the protagonist against the antagonist

d)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

40.

Define inciting incident

a)

the solution to the central conflict

b)

the force of conflict against the main character

c)

the one plot event that makes the central conflict possible- that pits the protagonist against the antagonist

d)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

41.

Define climax

a)

the solution to the central conflict

b)

the high point of the action for the protagonist

c)

the one plot event that makes the central conflict possible- that pits the protagonist against the antagonist

d)

the events in which the plot builds

42.

Define resolution

a)

the solution to the central conflict

b)

the high point of the action for the protagonist

c)

the one plot event that makes the central conflict possible- that pits the protagonist against the antagonist

d)

the events in which the plot builds

43.

Define exposition

a)

the events in which the plot builds

b)

the initial development of character, setting and plot

c)

the one plot event that makes the central conflict possible- that pits the protagonist against the antagonist

d)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

44.

Define falling action

a)

the events in which the plot builds

b)

the initial development of character, setting and plot

c)

the plot events in which the story wrapped up

d)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

45.

Define rising action

a)

the events in which the plot builds

b)

the initial development of character, setting and plot

c)

the plot events in which the story wrapped up

d)

the main problem around which the entire plot revolves

46.

Who is the protagonist of Mississippi Trial, 1955?

a)

Emmett Till

b)

RC Rydell

c)

Grampa, Earl Hillburn

d)

Hiram Hillburn

47.

Who or what is the antagonist of Mississippi Trial, 1955?

a)

Man- Emmett Till

b)

Society- Jim Crow Southern ideals

c)

Nature-the Tallahatchie River

d)

Man- Roy Bryant & JW Milam

48.

What is the CENTRAL CONFLICT of Mississippi Trail, 1955?

a)

Man v. Man-- Hiram v. RC Rydell

b)

Man v. Self-- Emmett v. Emmett's ignorance of the Southern Jim Crow ways

c)

Man v. Society-- Hiram v. Southern Jim Crow ideals.

d)

Man v. Nature-- Emmett Till v. Tallahatchie River

49.

What event was the inciting incident of the Central Conflict of Mississippi Trial, 1955?

a)

Emmett whistling at Mrs. Bryant

b)

Emmett meeting Hiram at the train station

c)

Hiram moving to Arizona at age 9

d)

Hiram returning to Greenwood, Mississippi August 1955

50.

How is the central conflict resolved?

a)

Grampa did it; he was the 3rd man.

b)

Hiram realizes that he agrees with his dad on the subjects of racism & equal rights.

c)

RC did it; he was the 3rd man.

d)

Emmett's body is found, recovered, and Bryant and Milam are arrested and tried.

51.

What is the climax of the central conflict?

a)

RC terrorizes Emmett at the river.

b)

Hiram meets Naomi at the Fulton Street Bridge

c)

Hiram decides to testify if called upon to do so.

d)

Grampa got home late the night Emmett was abducted.

52.

Which type of characterization is when the author develops a character by showing the character, using dialogue specific to that character's personality, describing the character's actions or reactions in the plot, and/or divulging the character's thoughts, feelings, ideas etc.

a)

direct characterization

b)

indirect characterization

53.

How is Grampa characterized in this quote, "'... I tell you son, mixing Negroes with our white students is going to ruin our schools and all America...'"

a)

direct characterization

b)

indirect characterization

54.

Which type of characterization is this quote from narration, "When we were kids, I figured R.C. was plain mean, but after what happened to Emmett, I knew R.C. was worse than mean."

a)

direct characterization

b)

indirect characterization

55.

How is Emmett characterized in this quote, "'Ain't b-been raised to be nobody's old p-porter,'"

a)

direct characterization

b)

indirect characterization

56.

Which type of characterization is this quote from the narration, "His clothes set him apart from other Negroes I had seen around the station."

a)

direct characterization

b)

indirect characterization

57.

Which type of characterization is this quote from narration, "She walked with her head down like she was trying to be invisible."

a)

direct characterization

b)

indirect characterization

58.

Figurative Language-- "'Ain't Hiram a regular old Romeo?'" Check all that apply.

a)

metaphor

b)

simile

c)

allusion

d)

dialect

59.

Figurative language-- "'Mr. Breland's argument was so full of holes that even I could see he didn't have a leg to stand on.'" Check all that apply.

a)

idiom

b)

simile

c)

metaphor

d)

dialect

60.

Figurative language-- "'You Mr. Hillburn's gran'child, ain't you?'" Check all that apply.

a)

imagery

b)

simile

c)

onomatopoeia

d)

dialect

61.

Figurative language-- "Both men looked about as comfortable as cows in a slaughterhouse." Check all that apply.

a)

imagery

b)

simile

c)

onomatopoeia

d)

dialect

62.

Figurative language-- "'The first words that entered this case, 'I want the boy from Chicago who did the talking at Money;' were dripping with the blood of Emmett Till.'" Check all that apply.

a)

imagery

b)

metaphor

c)

onomatopoeia

d)

dialect

63.

What is the genre of this novel?

a)

historical fiction

b)

realistic fiction

c)

nonfiction

d)

fantasy