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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What did the author have to learn from his son's mother?
2. Why does the author fear the PG County police?
3. When the author sees a police officer, he automatically thinks:
4. What did the author notice about white children in Manhattan?
5. Whom does the author blame for the death of Prince Jones?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is the significance of the author's description of the slave burial plot in southern Manhattan?
2. What reasons does the author give for Prince Jones' behavior prior to his death?
3. What in the significance of the author's vision of Prince Jones in the museum?
4. How is the author disappointed by the lack of education during his Civil War battlefield tour?
5. Why is the author angry and frustrated at the outcome of the investigation of the undercover cop who shot Prince Jones?
6. What revelation does the author have about police officers and authority figures after the September 11 attacks?
7. How did the author's trip to Paris affect his view of what it means to live in a black body?
8. According to the author, how is racism experienced through city planning and real estate?
9. According to Coats, how have the American legal system and the banking industry conspired together to create the illusion known as "The Dream"?
10. What impact does the death of Prince Jones have on the author?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Do Coates' words empower all black Americans? The author writes primarily about the experiences of black American men until the final section, where he interviews the mother of Prince Jones. Why might Coates have focused on the aspects of being a black man in America, as opposed to incorporating the struggle of the black woman as well? Since his memoir is an open letter to his son, why might he have made the decision to focus on the more masculine aspects of black America? Would the text have been as effective, or more effective, if he had incorporated more feminine experiences?
Essay Topic 2
Compare how the events of September 11, 2001 affected the author with how a majority of Americans reacted to the tragedy at the time. Did the attacks eventually unify or divide the nation? Did the author feel a part of that movement? Why or why not? In your opinion, does his opinion represent that of a majority of black Americans?
Essay Topic 3
The author states that when he was troubled or afraid, “I could not retreat, as did so many, into the church and its mysteries.” (page 28) How did Coates use academic study as a balm to soothe the chaos surrounding his life? In the same section he also says that he had “no sense that any just God was on my side”. Whom or what did the author use in lieu of a spiritual guide? Did he find a sense of inner peace with his books? Explain your answer citing examples from the memoir.
This section contains 1,542 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) |
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