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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. The acronym ASEAN carries which of the following meanings in the memoir?

2. How far underwater is the Deepwater Horizon well drilled?

3. Tha acronym IAEA carries which of the following meanings in the memoir?

4. Which of the following does Obama appoint Energy Secretary?

5. Which of the following performs at Obama’s Nobel ceremony?

Short Essay Questions

1. What justification does Obama offer for sightseeing on foreign diplomatic visits?

2. What does Obama cite as his impetus to finally quit smoking?

3. To what does the “cap-and-trade” system of greenhouse gas reduction refer?

4. What ideas does Obama note concerning war in preparing his Nobel acceptance speech?

5. What does Obama note are historical reasons midterm elections go poorly for the party in power?

6. What parts of the UN Charter does Obama note matched his mother’s viewpoint?

7. What recurring dream does Obama note having during his second year in office?

8. What does Obama note are reasons he could expect some success in the midterm elections?

9. What does Obama describe as the “Michelle Effect” in the memoir?

10. What effects does Obama note the stresses of his second year in office have on his senior staffers?

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

In the preface, Obama makes the following parenthetical remark: “I still like writing things out in longhand, finding that a computer gives even my roughest drafts too smooth a gloss and lends half-baked thoughts the mask of tidiness” (xiii). Does experience support the position? How so or not?

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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