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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. Whom does the author describe as his "wedding ring"?
(a) His son.
(b) His wife.
(c) God.
(d) His soul.

4. According to the author, America believes itself to be:
(a) Pure.
(b) Peaceful.
(c) Exceptional.
(d) Understanding.

5. To whom is the memoir addressed?
(a) The author's son.
(b) White Americans.
(c) All Americans.
(d) Black Americans.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is "the Yard"?

2. How does the author describe his experience in the Baltimore public schools?

3. How did the author spend most of his time at The Mecca?

4. Which writer inspired the author as a young man?

5. Where is Howard University located?

Short Essay Questions

1. What role did violence play in the author's childhood?

2. For what reasons did the author's father punish him and why?

3. According to the author, how have American police departments been given the right to destroy black bodies without the fear of recrimination?

4. How did fear shape the author's childhood?

5. What is the author's interpretation of "The Dream"?

6. What does the author mean when he says the school system and the streets are "two arms of the same beast"?

7. Why did the author's son experience such extreme grief when Michael Brown's killer was set free?

8. What conflicting thoughts does the author have about the civil rights movement of the 1960s?

9. What is meant by "Tolstoy is the Tolstoy of the Zulus?"

10. How does the author use poetry to express his thoughts?

(see the answer keys)

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