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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. What did the author learn from television as a young boy?

2. What hobby did the author pursue while at Howard University?

3. How did the author's father react when the author threatened his 9th grade teacher?

4. What advantages has the author's son had growing up?

5. According to the author, upon what has America's progress been built?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to the author, what is the purpose of the public school system?

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

3. How does the author compare his childhood to that of his son?

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

5. What is the symbolism behind the author's son's name?

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

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

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

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

10. What revelation does the author have about the European perception of Africans during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author speaks of the complexity of human society. Describe the contrast between the reality of his Baltimore neighborhood with that of the American suburbia he viewed on TV as a child. How might this contrast have affected his personal philosophy?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the different societal views of "The American Dream," or "The "Dream," as the author calls it. What are potential material, social and emotional advantages of living "The "Dream"? Why does Coates warn his son (and others) against the pursuit of "The Dream"?

Essay Topic 3

The author often refers to white people as those who "believe themselves white." He also speaks often of dissociation. How might the concept of race and dissociation be related in America today? Is race a genetic or social construct?

(see the answer keys)

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