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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. Where did the author meet the mother of his son?

2. According to the author, what do many of his black contemporaries have in common?

3. According to the author, how does racism affect the body?

4. Whom does the author describe as his "wedding ring"?

5. How are racism and race linked?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's interpretation of "The Dream"?

2. What is meant by "Tolstoy is the Tolstoy of the Zulus?"

3. What conflicting thoughts does the author have about the civil rights movement of the 1960s?

4. Why did the author's mother encourage him to write?

5. According to the author, how have American police departments been given the right to destroy black bodies without the fear of recrimination?

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

7. According to the author, how has the lack of fathers and father-figures affected black children?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the author's encounter with his unnamed French friend in Paris. What reservations did Coates have throughout the entire day? Why was he uncomfortable having his friend pay for the meal? What past experiences might have prompted him to insist that his friend walk out of the restaurant first? Describe what the author means when he says he feels he missed out on part of the experience because his eyes "were blindfolded by fear."

Essay Topic 2

Describe the different societal views of "The American Dream," or "The "Dream," as the author calls it. What are potential material, social and emotional advantages of living "The "Dream"? Why does Coates warn his son (and others) against the pursuit of "The Dream"?

Essay Topic 3

Amidst multiple examples of police brutality, the author mentions an effort on behalf of some police departments to improve relations with black Americans by diversifying their staff, utilizing body and patrol car cameras and offering sensitivity training. In the same paragraph, he points out that there remains a significant distance between the police and those they are appointed to protect. Does diversity, sensitivity training and the use of cameras allow the citizens of America to build trust or dissociate themselves from the police force? Is is possible to overcome this dissociation of racism between authority and citizenship. If so, how?

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