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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the author, what is the purpose of defining races of people?
(a) To define culture.
(b) To form a hierarchy in society.
(c) To instill a sense of cultural pride.
(d) To identify people groups.

2. According to the author, how does racism affect the body?
(a) The soul is made weak.
(b) Violence eventually damages the body.
(c) Metal distress creates mental discord.
(d) Stress causes early aging.

3. Where did the author meet the mother of his son?
(a) Baltimore.
(b) Atlanta.
(c) New York.
(d) The Mecca.

4. What did the author's father collect?
(a) Books.
(b) Guns.
(c) Cigars.
(d) Art.

5. What hobby did the author pursue while at Howard University?
(a) Poker.
(b) Music.
(c) Poetry.
(d) Bowling.

6. How does the author describe Malcolm X?
(a) Fierce, violent, and wild.
(b) Rebellious, irrational, and impulsive.
(c) Strong, ethical, and powerful.
(d) Controlled, intelligent, and beyond fear.

7. How did the author's parent's respond to his questions about inequality in the world?
(a) They referred him to books.
(b) They told him stories of their youth.
(c) They read passages from the bible.
(d) They sent him out on the street.

8. How did the author's father react when the author threatened his 9th grade teacher?
(a) His father called the police.
(b) His father confronted the teacher.
(c) His father beat him.
(d) His father confronted the principal.

9. Who said, "Either I can beat him, or the police"?
(a) The author's father.
(b) The author.
(c) The author's grandmother.
(d) The author's mother.

10. According to the author, it is important that whether one wins or loses the fight, who should be by your side?
(a) God.
(b) Pride.
(c) Family.
(d) Friends.

11. What advantages has the author's son had growing up?
(a) A safer neighborhood, better schools and more freedom.
(b) Wealth and private schools.
(c) Less racism, the Internet and a world culture.
(d) A black president, social networks, omnipresent media and black culture.

12. What did the author learn from television as a young boy?
(a) The world is a terrifying place.
(b) There are children in other neighborhoods who do not live in fear.
(c) There is hope for his escape.
(d) All children live in fear.

13. According to the author, what do many of his black contemporaries have in common?
(a) They have never known their fathers.
(b) They are searching for a better future.
(c) They are proud of their heritage.
(d) They are unhappy with their lives.

14. Whom does the author describe as "the God I never had"?
(a) His soul.
(b) His son.
(c) His mother.
(d) His wife.

15. What poet inspired the author while at Howard University?
(a) Robert Hayden.
(b) Maya Angelou.
(c) Robert Frost.
(d) Jack Kerouac.

Short Answer Questions

1. Coats explains that the young men who walk the streets of Baltimore loud and rude do so because:

2. How old is the author's son at the time the memoir is written?

3. Which name symbolically means "The Struggle"?

4. What does the author describe as the "enemy of art, courageous thinking and honest writing"?

5. The author admires Malcolm X because he never:

(see the answer keys)

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