Dreamland Burning

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. What is ironic about Will’s racism at the beginning of the novel?

A) Will feels sympathetic toward people of color.

B) Will has friends of color.

C) Will is part Native American himself.

D) Will believes he is a good person.

2. Which plot scenario indicates that Rowan is willing to make improvements on her perspective?

A) She takes a job at the Jackson Clinic in a dangerous part of town.

B) She continues to speak with James after he tells her she is privileged.

C) She expresses to James that she is sometimes ashamed of being Black.

D) She donates her time to various charities to help those in need.

3. Which comparison accurately reflects Will’s feelings at the beginning of the novel toward racism and what he feels at the novel’s conclusion?

A) He feels that people should be violent toward people of color who do the wrong thing but decides they should no longer have their rights withheld.

B. He doesn’t dislike people of color at the beginning of the novel, but he grows to have several friends in the Black community.

C) He accepts a racist view of the world but changes for the better and decides to act in support of the people of color in his community.

D) He joins the KKK but later realizes that he was wrong for doing that and decides to help people of color instead.

4.  What is the significance of Will’s statement “I’d never shaken a Negro’s hand before. His grip felt like any other,” when he first meets Joseph Goodhope?

A) Will is surprised Joseph is confident.

B) Will begins to realize Joseph is a person like him.

C) Will can’t believe Joseph would be bold enough to shake a white man’s hand.

D) Will doesn’t like to touch Black people.

5. What inferences can be drawn about the crime scene in Rowan’s backyard?

A) The forensic examiner doesn’t take it seriously.

B) Because they are racist, the police are not concerned.

C) The police take the crime scene seriously and immediately set out to investigate.

D) Because the crime scene is old, the police do not prioritize the case.

6. What is an example of social pressure in the novel?

A) Opal reluctantly gives Rowan the Dictaphone after Rowan insists.

B) Ruby tells Will to give Joseph a receipt.

C) Clete tricks Will into going to the brothel.

D) The townspeople barricade Will’s truck to take his passengers.

7. What inferences can be drawn about Stan’s motivations by the novel’s conclusion?

A) He is not racist.

B) He is motivated by greed.

C) He wants to protect his family at all costs.

D) He is racist.

8. Who is Maybelle?

A) The Victrola purchased by Joseph

B) One of Arvin’s relatives

C) Vernon’s gun

D) Will’s aunt

9. Why is Will attached to Ruby?

A) They both like the same pie.

B) Ruby reminds him of his sister.

C) Ruby has a sassy personality.

D) Will feels guilty about Clarence and makes amends through Ruby.

10.  What situation precipitates Will’s conclusion that he never had much in common with Clete in the first place?

A) As Will leaves the brothel and reflects on their day

B) At the novel’s conclusion when Clete is dying

C) When Clete tries to force Will to join the rioting

D) When Clete indirectly kills Clarence

11. Will notes that his self-reflection on Clarence and Ruby might be enough to make a righteous man out of him, but he never got the chance to find out. What does Will’s statement foreshadow?

A) He decides to join Vernon and Clete.

B) He dies before he is able to make something of himself.

C) He decides to leave and change his name.

D) He must make choices on the night of the rioting.

12. Which of the following is not an example of the ways in which Will and Rowan are similar?

A) Both have biracial identities.

B) Both were once racist.

C) They have wealthy families.

D) They undergo a character transformation.

13. What is the meaning of the motif of peach pies?

A) It is the shared connection between Will and Ruby.

B) Everyone in the novel eats and enjoys peach pie.

C) It connects Will to Rowan.

D) Peach pie is a staple of Tulsa cooking.

14. Why does Will agree to leave his father’s shop during the riots?

A) He doesn’t want Vernon and Clete to smash the windows.

B) His father told him to leave the shop and join the boys.

C) Will wants to rescue Dick from the mob at the courthouse.

D) Will is concerned for Joseph’s safety in the shop.

15. Which of the following plot scenarios is an example of irony?

A) Vernon tells Will he isn’t white enough to join the KKK.

B) James says Rowan lives in a rich girl bubble.

C) Rowan joins the Jackson Clinic.

D) Stan joins the KKK to protect his shop.

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. Why does the author include Rowan’s suspicion about the forensic anthropologist’s possible racism in identifying the skull?

2.  In the novel, many characters employ a variety of tactics to get other characters to adopt their perspective on race. What are some of the tactics used to influence people in the novel? Are they effective? Why or why not?