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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. Which former U.S. President wrote parts of Notes on the State of Virginia?

2. What does Rankine's white friend do to try to explain her actions at the play to Rankine after the fact?

3. Which comedian does Rankine call out in Part IV for revealing parts of his racial identity but not revealing other parts of his racial identity?

4. What does Rankine's white friend tell her about why she refused to follow the play's instructions at the end of the play in Part III?

5. Which of the following situations arose in which a white woman filmed and threatened a Black man in Part IV?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does Rankine say the term "people of color" first came from?

2. What statement did Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders make about the 2018 midterm elections that Rankine criticizes?

3. What does the white female judge say about her son in Part IV that shocks Rankine?

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

5. What makes Rankine so angry at the play Fairview?

6. 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?

7. In Part IV, what does a white man say to a white woman - ostensibly his partner - when she arrives at the airport gate late?

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

9. Which trope does Rankine feel she is "sailing closer and closer to" in Part III at a dinner party and why does she feel this way (149)?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay exploring the range of scientific research and anecdotal evidence Rankine offers the reader to illustrate how early racism and bias appear in children's behaviors and language, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

How does Rankine feel about, and react to, the idea of "color-blindness" and to people's insistence that they do not "see color"? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, Rankine reveals that she asked a friend to read a draft of the book and the friend told her that the book did not lay out any real "strategy" (334). Do you agree with this critique? Why or why not? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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