View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the sign the man in the photograph on page 140 of this book say?

2. Where does Rankine say the phrase "people of color" originally came from?

3. How did khaki pants and the color khaki begin to become fashionable in America in the 1950s?

4. Who did Laura Ingraham address her "Shut up and dribble" comment to, as cited by Rankine in Part IV?

5. Which Indiana police captain challenges another police captain over an issue of white privilege in a transcript in Part III?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does the white man in the hallway in Part III say to Rankine that she finds flabbergasting?

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

4. What does Rankine mean when she asks the question, "Whose boys get to be boys?" (264).

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

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

7. What kinds of experiments does Rankine recall when discussing the young age at which most children begin exhibiting racial preferences?

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

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

10. What did the actress Eartha Kitt do in 1968 that led to her being blacklisted?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rankine writes towards the end of the book, "E plurbis unum might have been the first national mistake" (333). What do you think she means by this? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing Rankine's treatment of the broad theme of conversations. What does Rankine seem to believe conversations can accomplish - and fail to accomplish - when it comes to a national conversation in America about race and racism?

Essay Topic 3

Rankine employs a unique blend of poetry, historical documents, transcripts of conversation, and prose in this book. How do you think her choice of styles and structure affects the reader's experience? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 885 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample