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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the author, navigating the streets of Baltimore is like a:
(a) Playground.
(b) Warzone.
(c) Battlefield.
(d) Series of trick questions.

2. What 1986 event helped solidify the author's view that violence is inevitable?
(a) He fired his first weapon.
(b) His father was shot.
(c) A teenage boy pulled a gun.
(d) His mother iwa mugged.

3. Who were the first white people the author knew on a personal level?
(a) His editors.
(b) Reporters.
(c) Religious zealots.
(d) Hippies.

4. For whom was the author's son named?
(a) Robert Hayden.
(b) Malcom X.
(c) Martin Luther King.
(d) Samori Touré.

5. Coats quotes that sixty percent of all young black men who drop out of high school will:
(a) Go to jail.
(b) Join the military.
(c) Die before the age of 25.
(d) End up homeless.

6. What view does the author have of the afterlife?
(a) It is his only comfort.
(b) It is a vital part of the fabric of the human psyche.
(c) It is an unknown.
(d) It does not exist.

7. What is the "one-drop" rule?
(a) One drop of liquor makes an alcoholic.
(b) One drop of violence ruins a peaceful gathering.
(c) Having one black parent (or ancestor) makes a person black.
(d) Having one white parent (or ancestor) entitles a person to be white.

8. Which name symbolically means "The Struggle"?
(a) Luther.
(b) Ta-Nehisi.
(c) Samori.
(d) Malcom.

9. What poet inspired the author while at Howard University?
(a) Robert Hayden.
(b) Robert Frost.
(c) Maya Angelou.
(d) Jack Kerouac.

10. How does the author describe his experience in the Baltimore public schools?
(a) Hopeful.
(b) Pointless.
(c) Safe.
(d) Enlightening.

11. Why does the author feel the interview at the beginning of his memoir was a failure?
(a) No one would comment on his new book.
(b) He was insulted by a caller to the radio station.
(c) The interviewer discussed hope for racial peace and equality.
(d) The interview was cut short.

12. How did the author's father react when another boy stole something from the author?
(a) His father beat him.
(b) His father confronted the thief's grandfather.
(c) His father confronted the thief.
(d) His father called the police.

13. Which writer inspired the author as a young man?
(a) James Baldwin.
(b) Alex Haley.
(c) Malcolm X.
(d) Maya Angelou.

14. Whose death reminded the author that his world and his son's were one and the same?
(a) The author's father.
(b) The author's grandmother.
(c) Michael Jackson.
(d) Michael Brown.

15. What does the author tell his son about responsibility?
(a) Responsibility comes with a price.
(b) He is only responsible for himself.
(c) He is responsible for his body and the bodies of others.
(d) He is responsible for his family.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is "The Mecca" that the author describes to his son?

2. What advantages has the author's son had growing up?

3. According to the author, the purpose of the public school system is to:

4. Coats explains that the young men who walk the streets of Baltimore loud and rude do so because:

5. According to the author, there is no difference between his son and which murdered 17-year-old?

(see the answer keys)

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