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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what error of John McCain's does Wilkerson say contributed to Obama's victory?
(a) He refusal to discuss his war record.
(b) His open appeals to Black and Mexican voters.
(c) His choice of a vice-presidential candidate.
(d) His involvement in the 2008 financial crisis.

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," what solution does the flight attendant offer Wilkerson when other first class passengers seem to be making antagonistic comments about her race?
(a) They can move the other passengers into coach.
(b) They can move Wilkerson into coach.
(c) Wilkerson can stand in the flight attendants' area in the front of the plane.
(d) They can ask the pilot to land the plane and have the passengers ejected.

3. On page 287 of "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does Wilkerson blame on "the latitude granted these white saviors...[and] the collective desire to solve tribal wounds with superficial gestures of grace from the wounded"?
(a) The failure of society to see the truth of Devonte Hart's situation.
(b) The 2015 Charleston church massacre.
(c) The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.
(d) The light sentence given to the white officer who shot a man who was just watching TV in his own apartment.

4. In "Chapter Sixteen: Last Place Anxiety: Packed in a Flooding Basement," what kind of stratification within America's lowest caste does Wilkerson note?
(a) Stratification based on skin tone.
(b) Stratification based on wealth.
(c) Stratification based on gender.
(d) Stratification based on educational achievement.

5. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," which group does Wilkerson say is the most susceptible to collective narcissism?
(a) The white middle class.
(b) The white upper class.
(c) Poor and marginalized whites.
(d) The white working class.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," what figure of speech does Wilkerson use when she says that modern caste protocols "are like the wind" (212)?

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," Wilkerson explains a complicated "solution" to a problem presented by free Black passengers on steamboats of the nineeenth century. What was this problem?

3. In "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung," which group of Americans does Wilkerson say is facing declining life expectancy?

4. In "Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Price We Pay for a Caste System," what does Wilkerson blame for the relatively low quality of life in the United States?

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," Wilkerson relates the story of a white Brooklyn woman who called the police because of an alleged "sexual assault." How old was the Black person she told the police had assaulted her?

Short Essay Questions

1. What principle is Wilkerson trying to illustrate with her personal anecdotes about flying first class in "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy"?

2. What is "dominant group status threat" and how does Wilkerson link it to mortality statistics in "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung"?

3. In "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," how does Wilkerson say Civil War politics seem to still influence American voting?

4. According to Wilkerson, in "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what impact has the census prediction for 2042 had on Whites in America?

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," what does Wilkerson say about understanding the voting of lower-class whites?

6. What is Wilkerson's purpose in telling the story of Devonte Hart in "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Caste"?

7. In"Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," to what does Wilkerson compare the American habit of asking where people's families are from, and why?

8. What is "variolation," and how did the route of its introduction into Colonial America interfere with its adoption?

9. Explain what Erich Fromm says about group narcissism, as described by Wilkerson in "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste."

10. In "Chapter Twelve: A Scapegoat to Bear the Sins of the World," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the anecdote about the murder of Carol DiMaiti?

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