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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 4: "Part Four: The Tentacles of Caste".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "An American Untouchable," how does the high school principal in India refer to Martin Luther King'?
(a) As a "Negro."
(b) As an "untouchable."
(c) As an "American Gandhi."
(d) As a great leader.

2. When 20 Black people arrived in the New World on a Dutch ship in 1619, what were they classified as?
(a) Colonists.
(b) Indentured servants.
(c) Merchandise.
(d) Slaves.

3. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," Wilkerson relays the story of a Black woman who visits a new white neighbor. What is the white neighbor's response?
(a) He calls the police and reports and intruder in his home.
(b) He calls for his wife, because he assumes that she is there to apply for their nanny position.
(c) He assumes that she works for the dry cleaners he is expecting to pick up his clothing.
(d) He assumes that she is trying to steal the packages that he has on his porch.

4. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what does Wilkerson say human-genome testing has revealed about race?
(a) There is tremendous variation within each of the five races.
(b) There are up to 36 divisions that could be called "races."
(c) It does not exist.
(d) It is entirely dependent on geography.

5. In "Chapter Thirteen: The Insecure Alpha and the Purpose of an Underdog," what lesson does Wilkerson want the reader to take away from her description of wolves?
(a) That human rankings are based on arbitrary factors just as rankings are among wolves.
(b) That the "alpha" wolf is actually just one of the group's parents and does not necessarily have special leadership qualities.
(c) That there are "alpha" humans and they deserve the highest positions in society regardless of race.
(d) That it is wrong to create distinctions among people that imply that some people are better than others.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Pillar Number Six: Dehumanization and Stigma," what is the best definition of the word "stigma"?

2. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what happened to Forest Whitaker at a Manhattan Deli?

3. In the page 15 sentence "An old house is its own kind of devotional, a dowager aunt with a story to be coaxed out of her," the reference to a dowager aunt is an example of what literary technique?

4. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is Wilkerson's central claim?

5. On page 12, Wilkerson says that some contagions can only be managed with "vigilance." How is she proposing they should be managed?

(see the answer key)

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