View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Irving quotes Betsy Leondar-Wright in Chapter 3: Race Versus Class, writing, "When it comes to culture, the only thing we all have in common is that we have one and that" (28) what?
(a) It is complex.
(b) It shapes us.
(c) It conquers our fears.
(d) It seals our fates.

2. In Chapter 15: The Whole Story, Irving warns the reader of the dangers associated with what types of stories?
(a) One-sided.
(b) Fictional.
(c) Ancient.
(d) Second-hand.

3. What was the first name of Dr. McIntosh, who wrote a famous essay about white privilege?
(a) Peggy.
(b) Mary.
(c) Anne.
(d) Sarah.

4. Which member of Irving's family is featured most prominently within the events of the memoir's first chapter?
(a) Her mother.
(b) Her cousin.
(c) Her aunt.
(d) Her brother.

5. In Chapter 30: My Good People, Irving tries to rectify her concept of herself as a good person with her certainty that she has also been displaying which other quality?
(a) Cruelty.
(b) Xenophobia.
(c) Apathy.
(d) Cluelessness.

6. At what age did Irving graduate from college, effectively ending the unexamined part of her life?
(a) 23.
(b) 22.
(c) 21.
(d) 24.

7. The activity at the end of Chapter 4: Optimism asks the reader to think about "major economic, political, demographic, and pop culture trends" (35) that occurred how many years before their birth, through the age of 20?
(a) 5.
(b) 15.
(c) 20.
(d) 10.

8. What was the last name of Irving's ancestor who established New Salem Academy by applying for a land grant?
(a) White.
(b) Putnam.
(c) O'Neill.
(d) Stevens.

9. Irving advocates for which narrative to become one among many telling the story of America's history?
(a) Quantitative.
(b) Marginalized.
(c) Qualitative.
(d) Dominant.

10. Irving asserts in Chapter 4: Optimism that the American Dream is accessible to whom?
(a) Nearly everyone.
(b) A select few.
(c) Most.
(d) All.

11. In what part of the country did Irving grow up, according to Chapter 5: Within the Walls?
(a) Midwest.
(b) Southwest.
(c) New England.
(d) Northwest.

12. The activity at the end of Chapter 9: White Superiority asks readers to explain how they feel about which term?
(a) Beautiful.
(b) Systemic.
(c) Caucasian.
(d) Racist.

13. Irving describes the limitations of which text in Chapter 14: Zap!?
(a) The Farmers' Almanac.
(b) The Bible.
(c) The Declaration of Independence.
(d) The Golden Rule.

14. Who wrote the maxim, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" (114)?
(a) Anne Bradstreet.
(b) Edmund Spenser.
(c) Noel Coward.
(d) Edmund Burke.

15. Irving states that the theory of colorblindness maintains all but which of the following within American society?
(a) Ignorance.
(b) Tolerance.
(c) Silence.
(d) Denial.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is NOT a way in which Irving describes the idea of whiteness remaining constant over time in Chapter 9: White Superiority?

2. What term is used to describe the rule in which people of mixed races in America are assigned the identity of the race considered inferior by the dominant white culture?

3. Irving describes growing up in an affluent suburb of which American city?

4. Irving reveals in Chapter 4: Optimism that she was born in which year?

5. In which U.S. state did an ancestor of Irving's establish New Salem Academy by applying for a land grant?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 486 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample