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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. What bothers the author about artists like Michael Jackson?

2. Why does the author feel the interview at the beginning of his memoir was a failure?

3. For how many years were black people enslaved in America?

4. Which writer inspired the author as a young man?

5. The author views the school systems and the streets as:

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author mean when he says the school system and the streets are "two arms of the same beast"?

2. What is the author's interpretation of "The Dream"?

3. According to the author, how have American police departments been given the right to destroy black bodies without the fear of recrimination?

4. What is the symbolism behind the author's son's name?

5. What does the author mean when he asks: "How do I live free in this black body?"

6. What is meant by "Tolstoy is the Tolstoy of the Zulus?"

7. How important were books to the author as he was growing up?

8. What assumptions does the author make about PG County (Prince George's County) police officers and why?

9. What conflicting thoughts does the author have about the civil rights movement of the 1960s?

10. What role did violence play in the author's childhood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author spends a great deal of time describing his Mecca, Howard University, as an escape from the fear that once plagued his life as a child on the streets of Baltimore. Keeping in mind that Howard is a private university that not every student can afford, what other Meccas might exist in America that could parallel the author's experience? Are there other places or experiences that could provide a similar bond of safety and community for the black student? If so, what? Is the author's Mecca a physical place or a state of mind? Explain your answer citing examples from the author's work.

Essay Topic 2

Do Coates' words empower all black Americans? The author writes primarily about the experiences of black American men until the final section, where he interviews the mother of Prince Jones. Why might Coates have focused on the aspects of being a black man in America, as opposed to incorporating the struggle of the black woman as well? Since his memoir is an open letter to his son, why might he have made the decision to focus on the more masculine aspects of black America? Would the text have been as effective, or more effective, if he had incorporated more feminine experiences?

Essay Topic 3

The essential question the author poses in this open letter to his son is "How do I live free in this black body?" Does Coates answer this question, and if so, how? What type of freedom is the author describing?

(see the answer keys)

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