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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 happened when the author was stopped by a PG County officer?

2. Why did the author want to return to Paris with his son?

3. How did the man who was evicted from his home react to the presence of the police?

4. How does the author describe the love of white families for their children?

5. What excuse did the man on page 112 give for shooting the boy in the car?

Short Essay Questions

1. What reasons does the author give for Prince Jones' behavior prior to his death?

2. According to Coats, how have the American legal system and the banking industry conspired together to create the illusion known as "The Dream"?

3. Why is the author's fear of his son seeing him arrested greater than his fear of being arrested?

4. What reasons does the author give for the anger of the man who was having his home repossessed?

5. How, does Coats write, have his eyes been damaged by what he has seen?

6. What role has fear played in Samori's (the author's son) life?

7. How is the author disappointed by the lack of education during his Civil War battlefield tour?

8. Why does the author worry that others will tell his son that the lessons he is trying to teach are an unnecessary part of the past?

9. What is the significance of the author's description of the slave burial plot in southern Manhattan?

10. How does the author compare the flight of Abraham Brian to the fear of the modern black man?

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

Amidst multiple examples of police brutality, the author mentions an effort on behalf of some police departments to improve relations with black Americans by diversifying their staff, utilizing body and patrol car cameras and offering sensitivity training. In the same paragraph, he points out that there remains a significant distance between the police and those they are appointed to protect. Does diversity, sensitivity training and the use of cameras allow the citizens of America to build trust or dissociate themselves from the police force? Is is possible to overcome this dissociation of racism between authority and citizenship. If so, how?

Essay Topic 3

While at Howard University, the author was influenced by such poets such as Robert Hayden and Ethelbert Miller. Their lyrical influence is still evident even in his memoir. How does the author's style of writing and choice of words reflect a poetic influence? Be specific in the examples you give. What are the potential benefits of using poetic language in a non-fiction work such as "Between the World and Me"? What are the potential drawbacks of using figurative, rather than literal language?

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