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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. In which of the following years does Obama note entering Harvard Law School?

2. Which of the following endorse Obama after the New Hampshire primary?

3. Which of the following meanings is attached to the acronym TARP in the memoir?

4. How many pages does Obama report anticipating his memoir will take?

5. Which of the following cities does Obama visit on his first official trip abroad as a U.S. Senator?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Obama note doing in the first month after leaving office?

2. Why does Obama note unease at being “the new ‘in’ thing” (196)?

3. What comment is reported that Billy Shaheen makes about Obama?

4. What is the overall tone of the first section in Chapter 10, describing the Oval Office, and how is it conveyed?

5. What reservations regarding running for President does Obama cite prior to beginning his campaign?

6. How does Obama define “too big to fail” companies within the context of the 2008 financial crisis (181)?

7. What advice does Obama note he would offer to his collegiate self, could he go back and give it?

8. How does Obama describe “politics in Springfield” (33) while he is a state senator?

9. What trust does Obama cite as integral to the modern social contract?

10. What is the first bill Obama signs into law, and what does it do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The memoir makes note of many, many names, mostly people who work for Obama in his offices and on his campaigns. What purpose might bringing up so many people serve? Does the memoir fulfill that purpose? How or how not?

Essay Topic 2

Obama writes of “that most precious of gifts: the conviction of innocence, as well as the righteous indignation that comes with it” (274). What tone does the memoir adopt towards that gift? What in the memoir supports the idea? How does it do so?

Essay Topic 3

Obama muses on making the following comment: “The point of it all. To have that rare chance, reserved for very few, to bend history in a better direction” (423). Is the chance rare? It is reserved for few? What in the memoir supports the position? How does it do so?

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