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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is PG County?
(a) Prince George's County, MD.
(b) A poet from Long Island.
(c) Price Goldwin County, MA.
(d) Princeton-Gordon County, Washington, DC.

2. According to the author, the purpose of the public school system is to:
(a) Create conformity.
(b) Provide a safe haven.
(c) Point to the road of success.
(d) Inspire minds.

3. As a child, what baffled the author about the nonviolent protests of the civil rights moment?
(a) Kids should not see violent television.
(b) He had been raised in a violent society.
(c) Violence is illegal.
(d) He felt the police should have helped more.

4. What essential question does the author pose in his memoir?
(a) Who am I?
(b) How can all people groups coexist?
(c) When will America be one?
(d) How do I live free in this black body?

5. Whom did the girl with the long dreads love?
(a) Maya Angelou.
(b) Malcom X.
(c) Prince Jones.
(d) The Author.

6. Which name symbolically means "The Struggle"?
(a) Ta-Nehisi.
(b) Luther.
(c) Samori.
(d) Malcom.

7. Which writer inspired the author as a young man?
(a) Maya Angelou.
(b) Malcolm X.
(c) Alex Haley.
(d) James Baldwin.

8. What is "The Mecca" that the author describes to his son?
(a) His father's collection of books.
(b) The culture of the student body at Howard University.
(c) His poetry notebook.
(d) His mother's collection of vintage vinyl.

9. How does the author describe the classroom?
(a) A jail of other people's interests.
(b) A palace of thought.
(c) An open, unending forum of ideas.
(d) The road to freedom.

10. What is the "one-drop" rule?
(a) Having one white parent (or ancestor) entitles a person to be white.
(b) One drop of violence ruins a peaceful gathering.
(c) Having one black parent (or ancestor) makes a person black.
(d) One drop of liquor makes an alcoholic.

11. The author admires Malcolm X because he never:
(a) Gave up.
(b) Lied.
(c) Hesitated.
(d) Ran.

12. What did the author's parents teach him about religion?
(a) They were devout Muslims.
(b) He should find his own spiritual path.
(c) They were devout Baptists.
(d) They rejected all religions.

13. According to the author, upon what has America's progress been built?
(a) Hard work.
(b) Violence.
(c) Wealth.
(d) Education.

14. Coats quotes that sixty percent of all young black men who drop out of high school will:
(a) Join the military.
(b) Go to jail.
(c) End up homeless.
(d) Die before the age of 25.

15. How did the author's father discipline him?
(a) By taking his phone.
(b) By slapping his face.
(c) In time-out.
(d) With a belt.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the Tolstoy of the Zulus, according to Coats?

2. According to the author, who controls the streets of Baltimore?

3. What does the author tell his son about promises?

4. According to the author, America believes itself to be:

5. According to the author, how does racism affect the body?

(see the answer keys)

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