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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. What does Rankine write that she is trying to understand in the very beginning of Part III?
(a) Why so many people declined to be interviewed for her book.
(b) Why telling a white male he has benefitted from white male privilege feels abusive to him.
(c) Why working as a researcher pays so little.
(d) Why saying someone is racist seems offensive to that person.

2. Where does Rankine say the phrase "people of color" originally came from?
(a) The court case Loving v. Virginia.
(b) The great migration.
(c) The court case Brown v. The Board of Education.
(d) Women of color.

3. What is one major difference Rankine understands between her life and that of her dear white friend in Part III, even though they share many similarities?
(a) Rankine did not have anyone else help her pay for college.
(b) Rankine did not have children, and her friend did.
(c) Rankine did not have health insurance, and her friend did.
(d) Rankine did not have any inherited wealth.

4. What was one argument the NYPD Union lawyers put forth in the death of Eric Garner at police hands, according to Rankine?
(a) Police would not have killed Garner if he had been standing on the corner with other friends of his.
(b) Garner would have died anyway because he was obese.
(c) Garner would have been convicted by a jury for his crimes.
(d) Garner forced police to use lethal force against him.

5. What trope does Rankine worry she is "sailing closer" to in Part III?
(a) That of the strident academic woman.
(b) That of the tough boss.
(c) That of the overbearing mother.
(d) That of the angry Black woman.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which fashion brand does Rankine write cultivated an aura of the white, wealthy country-club set throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s?

2. Which of the following young Black men was violently killed for no cause in 2012?

3. What does Rankine quote comedian Chris Rock as saying in Part IV?

4. Which play does Rankine go to see with a white friend of hers in Part III?

5. Which Supreme Court justice's confirmation hearings in 2018 included testimony of his alleged abuse towards a woman?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to the young child of a friend of Rankine's when he colors Goldilocks's skin brown in his class?

2. Why does Rankine think it is particularly puzzling that the white female judge in Part IV seems to fear for her son's life as he moves to Brooklyn?

3. In the very beginning of Part III, what does Rankine write that she is attempting to understand?

4. Why do you think Rankine includes the photo of the white man holding a sign saying "I am not ashamed/afraid to be white" on page 140?

5. What does Rankine wonder about the woman in Part IV who has a medical emergency on the plane?

6. How does Rankine eventually come to better understand her friend's actions at the play Fairview?

7. In Part IV, what kinds of conversations does Rankine include excerpts from?

8. What does Rankine think will be the likely fallout from her speaking at the dinner party the way she does in Part III?

9. Why does Rankine stop herself abruptly when comparing herself and a white friend in Part III?

10. What is one major way Rankine points out in which Black people are historically economically more disadvantaged than whites?

(see the answer keys)

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