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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. According to Solzhenitsyn, "To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he's doing is _____ " what?

2. To where did the mother of the author's son travel when she turned 30?

3. How does the author describe Prince Jones?

4. What does the author witness while researching a story on the history of segregation in Chicago?

5. Whom does the author blame for the death of Prince Jones?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the thought of encountering the Prince George's County patrol officer frighten the author?

2. How does the author contrast black and white societies?

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

4. Why did the author move to New York?

5. What revelation does the author have about police officers and authority figures after the September 11 attacks?

6. What reasons does the author give for the woman feeling validated in pushing his son off the escalator?

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

8. According to the author, how do the behaviors of police departments reflect American values?

9. What does the author mean by every country having an "above" and a "below"?

10. What lesson does the mother of the boy on page 112 (Lucia McBath) try to impart to the author's son?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The author spends a great deal of time describing his Mecca, Howard University, as an escape from the fear that once plagued his life as a child on the streets of Baltimore. Keeping in mind that Howard is a private university that not every student can afford, what other Meccas might exist in America that could parallel the author's experience? Are there other places or experiences that could provide a similar bond of safety and community for the black student? If so, what? Is the author's Mecca a physical place or a state of mind? Explain your answer citing examples from the author's work.

Essay Topic 2

How does the author compare his experiences with public education to the expectations that society has for black people? What does it mean when he says that “the schools were not concerned with curiosity,” but with “compliance” ? What statement might the author be making about racial injustice in the American school system?

Essay Topic 3

The moment Samori realized the death of Michael Brown would not be avenged; the instant that a four-year-old (Dr.) Mable Jones was pulled away from the front of the bus; the split-second the author realized through the medium of television that there was another world outside of his inner-city Baltimore - what do all of these points in time have in common? What one lesson did each person learn in his or her critical moment? How might other black Americans have faced similar racial epiphanies?

(see the answer keys)

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