View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many years elapsed between the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama and the shootings at the Emanuel Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina?
(a) 52.
(b) 41.
(c) 36.
(d) 64.

2. Kevin Young begins his essay "Blacker Than Thou" by discussing which movie in which Steve Martin plays the lead role?
(a) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
(b) The Three Amigos.
(c) The Pink Panther.
(d) The Jerk.

3. After what meal did Kiese Laymon's grandmother make him take a teaspoon of cod liver oil whenever he stayed with her?
(a) Breakfast.
(b) Dinner.
(c) Brunch.
(d) Lunch.

4. Which of her audiences does Kiese Laymon say his grandmother had considered to be the most important audience of her work?
(a) Upcoming Southern black women workers.
(b) White male shift managers.
(c) The women at her church.
(d) Preceding Southern black women workers.

5. In what state did Kiese Laymon's grandmother live and work?
(a) Mississippi.
(b) Alabama.
(c) Louisiana.
(d) Georgia.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what Jamaican city did Garnette Cadogan, the author of the essay "Black and Blue," grow up?

2. To what danger is the author of the essay "Black and Blue" referring when he writes, "The streets had their own safety. Unlike at home, there I could be myself without fear of bodily harm" (130)?

3. What is the title of the widely-circulated comic depicting the significant difference between what a white mother says to her son as he walks out the door, versus what a black mother says to her son as he walks out the door?

4. What was the first OutKast album Kiese Laymon ever heard?

5. The author of the essay "Black and Blue" states that seeing a lone woman walking at night in Jamaica was as common a sight as the sight of what mythic creature?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Emily Raboteau say she wishes to distinguish her role as a mother from both types of mothers depicted in the widely-circulated comic entitled "Still Two Americas"?

2. What distinction does Kiese Laymon make between "stank" and "freshness" (118) in his essay "Da Art of Storytellin' (A Prequel)"?

3. What two reasons does the author of "Know Your Rights" give for being bothered by her four-year-old son's tantrum during the family's walk to High Bridge?

4. Why does Garnette Cadogan hold out hope that he will not encounter the same problems while walking in New York City that he had while walking in New Orleans?

5. Why does Kevin Young insert "[name withheld]" rather than naming the killer responsible for the murders in Charleston?

6. In what ways did Kiese Laymon feel validated and inspired by the words of Andre 3000 at the Source Awards of 1995?

7. What does Kevin Young write is one of the best things about being black?

8. What contrast does the author of "Black and Blue" set up by using a quote from Fats Waller and a quote by Walt Whitman prior to the body of his essay?

9. How is paradox employed within the poem "Queries of Unrest" and to what effect?

10. What is People's Justice and what is the organization's goal?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,482 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample