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. Who else in Jesmyn Ward's family gets genetic testing done at the same time she does?

2. How many books of Phillis Wheatley's poetry were published during her lifetime?

3. What term did the historians referred to in "Where Do We Go from Here?" use to describe the last reversal of African-American advancement?

4. What adjective does the writer of "The Weight" use to describe the black narrative within the United States?

5. What object does the speaker of the poem "Homegoing, AD" by Kima Jones smell that lets her know they are close to their destination?

Short Essay Questions

1. What emotion does Jesmyn Ward say that she feels upon looking at all of the works within The Fire This Time and why?

2. How is Jesmyn Ward's experience of receiving her genetic ancestry results different from the experiences of her parents?

3. In what ways does the author of "The Dear Pledges of Our Love: A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" demonstrate how difficult it can be to extricate oneself from the biases present within the American culture's views of black people?

4. For what purpose had Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, the author of "The Weight," come to London just before her acquaintance convinces her to visit James Baldwin's former house in France?

5. How does the author of "Where Do We Go from Here" evoke feelings of hope in the reader at the end of her essay?

6. How did a quote within James Baldwin's book The Fire Next Time inspire Jesmyn ward to put together her own collection to create The Fire This Time?

7. What is the main claim being made regarding a Nadir within the essay "Where Do We Go from Here"?

8. In her essay entitled "White Rage," what distinction does Carol Anderson make between white rage and black rage?

9. How does Carol Anderson refute the idea that the Brown vs. Board of Education decision was a complete triumph for black advancement in America?

10. What are the examples the author of "Where Do We Go from Here" uses in order to prove that African-Americans are currently living through a second Nadir?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose two of the poems contained in The Fire This Time and write an essay comparing and contrasting their respective messages and literary techniques.

Essay Topic 2

Many pieces within the collection The Fire This Time include commentary about how the arts, including literature, public murals, and other forms of art, can help to heal the pain caused by racial inequality and can even act as catalysts for progress in this area. Choose three pieces that include commentary about the value of art and compare and contrast their messages regarding the arts' ability to heal an ailing society.

Essay Topic 3

Explore the motifs of fire, water, and earth present within the works collected in The Fire This Time.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,171 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample