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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year does Obama note Toot was born?

2. At which of the following firms does Obama note working after marrying Michelle?

3. The term G20 refers to which of the following?

4. Which of the following is Obama’s chief usher?

5. How many contests take place on Super Tuesday, per Obama?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Obama note his campaign staff defines the term “gaffe”?

2. To what events does Obama ascribe his perception as a U.S. Senator that he needed to do more in office, and faster?

3. What advice does Obama note he would offer to his collegiate self, could he go back and give it?

4. What complications in Black attitudes toward his candidacy does Obama note?

5. How does Obama describe “politics in Springfield” (33) while he is a state senator?

6. What lesson does Obama report taking from the New Hampshire primary?

7. What reasons does Obama report for reading constituent letters?

8. Obama notes reprising the final section of Lincoln’s journey to Washington, DC, for his own inauguration—with one change. What is the change, and why was it made?

9. What does Obama cite as his early problem in his campaign for president?

10. What is the primary rhetorical approach Obama uses to persuade Michelle to support his first attempt to win political office, and why is it the primary one?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Obama muses on making the following comment: “The point of it all. To have that rare chance, reserved for very few, to bend history in a better direction” (423). Is the chance rare? It is reserved for few? What in the memoir supports the position? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 2

If there is a single, dominant theme in the memoir, what is it? What in the text indicates as much? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Obama writes, “By nature I’m a deliberate speaker, which, by the standards of presidential candidates, helped keep my gaffe quotient relatively low. But my care with words raised another issue on the campaign trail: I was just plan wordy, and that was a problem” (83). Does the memoir bear out the observations thus made? How or how not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 780 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample