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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. What view does the author have of the afterlife?

2. Who is Linda Heywood?

3. How did the author's father react when another boy stole something from the author?

4. What does the author tell his son about responsibility?

5. What 1986 event helped solidify the author's view that violence is inevitable?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does research and study affect the author as a young man?

2. What is the symbolism behind the author's son's name?

3. What does the author mean when he says the school system and the streets are "two arms of the same beast"?

4. How does the author define the word "black"?

5. What revelation does the author have about the European perception of Africans during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

6. How did fear shape the author's childhood?

7. What influence did Malcom X have on the author as a young man?

8. What does the author mean when he asks: "How do I live free in this black body?"

9. For what reasons did the author's father punish him and why?

10. What role did violence play in the author's childhood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author compare his experiences with public education to the expectations that society has for black people? What does it mean when he says that “the schools were not concerned with curiosity,” but with “compliance” ? What statement might the author be making about racial injustice in the American school system?

Essay Topic 2

When the killer of Michael Brown was set free, Samori (the author's son) was overwrought with anger and sorrow. The author could not bring himself to console his son, although he did sit with him as Samori grieved. Why did Coates find himself unwilling to console his son? Why were things "not going to be okay"? What lesson was Coates trying to teach his son in that moment?

Essay Topic 3

While at Howard University, the author was influenced by such poets such as Robert Hayden and Ethelbert Miller. Their lyrical influence is still evident even in his memoir. How does the author's style of writing and choice of words reflect a poetic influence? Be specific in the examples you give. What are the potential benefits of using poetic language in a non-fiction work such as "Between the World and Me"? What are the potential drawbacks of using figurative, rather than literal language?

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