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. When Kiese Laymon invites his grandmother up to Oxford where he lives at the time, why does she refuse to come?
(a) Because Kiese is the only black person she knows in Oxford.
(b) Because there is a music festival happening in her hometown.
(c) Because her health is too poor for such a long trip.
(d) Because she does not like to infringe upon Kiese's privacy.

2. To end his essay "Blacker Than Thou," what three fruits does Kevin Young recollect eating in the morning?
(a) Apples, pears, and strawberries.
(b) Kiwis, mangos, and pears.
(c) Bananas, raspberries, and apples.
(d) Grapes, blackberries, and plums.

3. In addition to Andre 3000, who is the other member of OutKast?
(a) Big Boi.
(b) Lil Wayne.
(c) Bootsy Collins.
(d) Kendrick Lamar.

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) Preceding Southern black women workers.
(c) White male shift managers.
(d) The women at her church.

5. When Kevin Young, the author of "Blacker Than Thou" outlines his next book for the reader, under what type of text does he say his new book falls?
(a) Memoir.
(b) Satire.
(c) Poetry.
(d) Nonfiction.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what type of factory did Kiese Laymon's grandmother work for 30 years?

2. When Kiese Laymon was busy analyzing the Outkast song "Wailin'," what was he supposed to be doing instead?

3. The essay entitled "Black and Blue" takes its name from a song by what African-American musician?

4. When Kevin Young states that being black is not a feeling and is not "simply a state of mind" (109), what does he say blackness is instead?

5. How old was Tamir Rice at the time he was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the author of "Composite Pops" say that a boy must do if he is "not blessed with a father or gifted with a dynamic stand-in" (180)?

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

3. What event does the author of "Composite Pops" name as the one that taught him that he must be able to save himself?

4. At the start of the essay "The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning," why do the two women talking about one's recent arrival of a son laugh when the new mother says her first thought had been how she could get her baby boy out of America?

5. How does Garnette Cadogan misunderstand the advice of the university officials who tell him to walk only in certain areas of New Orleans after his move there to attend college?

6. Who does Claudia Rankine name as the person who created "a new pathway for how to think about a lynched body" (147) and what does she mean?

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

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

9. What two categories does Kevin Young say white thinking or acting out about being black almost always fall into and what example does he give for each category he names?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,348 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample