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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What adjective does the writer of "The Weight" use to describe the black narrative within the United States?
(a) Fractured.
(b) Linear.
(c) Problematic.
(d) Quixotic.

2. What emotion does Jesmyn Ward say she feels when she looks at the works collected in The Fire This Time?
(a) Courage.
(b) Dismay.
(c) Hope.
(d) Sadness.

3. What does the author of "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" state was the demographic makeup of her school in the 1970s?
(a) 48% African American and 52% Caucasian.
(b) 23% African-American, 48% Caucasian, and 29% Native American.
(c) 99% African-American.
(d) 99% Caucasian.

4. What other types of work had the editor published before curating The Fire This Time?
(a) Newspaper articles and novels.
(b) Poetry and short stories.
(c) Novels and memoirs.
(d) Novels and short stories.

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?
(a) The magnolia tree.
(b) The paper mill.
(c) The sea air.
(d) The popping corn.

6. For what ultimate purpose does the author of "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" start her search for primary sources regarding Phillis Wheatley's life?
(a) To discover more about her own identity.
(b) To publish a rebuttal to
(c) To write a series of poems about Phillis Wheatley.
(d) To write a collection of essays about freed slaves.

7. At the end of her essay "Cracking the Code," Jesmyn Ward states that she imagines that a longing for what element had been a part of all of her ancestors' lives?
(a) The longing to be heard.
(b) The longing to be understood.
(c) The longing to belong.
(d) The longing for independence.

8. A 2013 report by researchers at Brandeis University calculated that what fraction "of the collective wealth of African-American families was stripped away" (86) during the Great Recession?
(a) 2/3.
(b) 1/2.
(c) 3/4.
(d) 1/4.

9. What does the author of "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" name as her own mother's voice type?
(a) Alto.
(b) Soprano.
(c) Tenor.
(d) Bass.

10. In what year did Phillis Wheatley sail to London for a six week period in order to promote her poetry?
(a) 1901.
(b) 1768.
(c) 1773.
(d) 1832.

11. What is the name of the era in which African-Americans made leaps in advancement just after the end of slavery?
(a) Restoration.
(b) Revitalization.
(c) Reconstruction.
(d) Renaissance.

12. The self-help book that the author of "Lonely in America" tries to live by within the essay says that "to become free of disappointment, one must acknowledge the obvious, then" (37) do what?
(a) Become familiar with its underpinnings..
(b) Embrace it.
(c) Learn to live with it.
(d) Forget about it.

13. What is the title of Phillis Wheatley's most often-anthologized poem?
(a) "To My Dear and Loving Husband."
(b) "Upon the Burning of Our House."
(c) "On Being Brought from Africa to America."
(d) "The Spider and the Fly."

14. What was the name of Phillis Wheatley's husband, who is being defended in the essay "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband"?
(a) Jacob Wheatley.
(b) John Peters.
(c) John Wheatley.
(d) James Jackson.

15. Which family member's house in New Orleans had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and was subsequently visited by the author of "Lonely in America"?
(a) Aunt Lou.
(b) Great-aunt Louise.
(c) Uncle Chester.
(d) Grandmama.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who was the author of Memoir and Poems of Phyllis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave?

2. What company did Jesmyn Ward use in order to obtain a report of her genetic ancestry?

3. From what city did Phillis Wheatley's husband hail?

4. While Jesmyn Ward's father was born in Pass Christian, Mississippi, to what California city had he moved as a teenager in 1969?

5. What topic is NOT listed among the issues that the author of "Lonely in America" feels unable to fixate upon in order to dispel her sense of loneliness?

(see the answer keys)

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