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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. How does the author respond when asked by the female pastor, "Whose little boy are you?"
(a) "Allah's."
(b) "Why, yours."
(c) "God's."
(d) "David Baldwin's."

2. What kind of athletic career does the author describe pursuing but not succeeding at in "Down at the Cross"?
(a) Football.
(b) Baseball.
(c) Prize-fighting.
(d) Basketball.

3. The author states in "Down at the Cross," "White people hold the power, which means that they are" what?
(a) "Selfish."
(b) "Inferior to blacks."
(c) "Free."
(d) "Superior to blacks."

4. Where did Rudyard Kipling live?
(a) France.
(b) Ireland.
(c) Canada.
(d) England.

5. The author asserts in "Down at the Cross" that "a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that people be wicked but only that they be" what?
(a) "Isolated."
(b) "Scared."
(c) "Ignorant."
(d) "Spineless."

Short Answer Questions

1. The authors writes in "Down at the Cross," "Yes, it does indeed mean something - something unspeakable - to be born, in a white country, and Anglo-Teutonic, antisexual country, black. You very soon, without knowing it, give up all hope of" what?

2. What word from "Down at the Cross" refers to a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument?

3. For how long did the author remain on the pulpit as a Young Minister?

4. What does the author say "catches up with kingdoms and crushes them" in "Down at the Cross"?

5. What does the author describe school revealing itself to be to the black community passing through adolescence in "Down at the Cross"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the subject of the hymn that opens "Down at the Cross"? How does this quote tie in with the essay's themes?

2. What is the source of the author's anger and resentment toward his father?

3. What elements of foreshadowing can be seen in the first part of "Down at the Cross"?

4. What does the author remark about the Holocaust in "Down at the Cross"?

5. In the second section of "Down at the Cross," the author points out many reasons that American society is not healed in relation to race. How does he propose it might become healed?

6. What parallels does the author draw between Christianity and Islam in "Down at the Cross"?

7. How would you describe the author's sense of anger in the beginning of "Down at the Cross"?

8. How does the author compare his involvement in ministry with the thugs on the Avenue in "Down at the Cross"?

9. How does the author describe his religious faith to Elijah Muhammad in "Down at the Cross"?

10. What parallels does the author draw between his father and Elijah Muhammad in "Down at the Cross"?

(see the answer keys)

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