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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. Why did the author feel it was unnecessary to forgive the man who killed Prince Jones?

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

3. According to the author, "In America, it is traditional to destroy the _____" what?

4. According to the author, this son has been cast into "a race in which the wind is always at your face and _____" what?

5. How old was the author's son when Coats first took him along on an interview?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the death of the boy on page 112 (Jordan Davis) reinforce the author's theory that the "Dream" is dangerous?

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

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

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

6. Why is the author angry and frustrated at the outcome of the investigation of the undercover cop who shot Prince Jones?

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

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

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The essential question the author poses in this open letter to his son is "How do I live free in this black body?" Does Coates answer this question, and if so, how? What type of freedom is the author describing?

Essay Topic 2

Malcom X was one of the greatest, if the not the greatest, literary influence in the author's life. Malcom X was assassinated in February of 1965. How might this knowledge have shaped the influence Malcom X had over the author, who was born ten years after Malcom's death? Using your own knowledge of world history, what aspects of Malcolm X's beliefs might have shaped the author's depiction of the racist role of America?

Essay Topic 3

When the killer of Michael Brown was set free, Samori (the author's son) was overwrought with anger and sorrow. The author could not bring himself to console his son, although he did sit with him as Samori grieved. Why did Coates find himself unwilling to console his son? Why were things "not going to be okay"? What lesson was Coates trying to teach his son in that moment?

(see the answer keys)

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