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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "Part One: Toxins in the Permafrost and Heat Rising All Around" .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Wilkerson, what serves as a signal of rank within the American caste system?
(a) Religion.
(b) Race.
(c) Wealth.
(d) Education.

2. In the opening anecdote of the book, what escapes from the melting permafrost?
(a) Mercury.
(b) Anthrax.
(c) SARS-CoV-2.
(d) Nuclear waste.

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 idea that the house has a story to tell is an example of what literary technique?
(a) Metonymy.
(b) Litotes.
(c) Personification.
(d) Apostrophe.

4. On page 12, Wilkerson says that some contagions can only be managed with "vigilance." How is she proposing they should be managed?
(a) With constant watchfulness.
(b) With brute force.
(c) With great speed.
(d) With careful thoroughness.

5. What is the name of Gunnar Myrdal's 1944 study of race in America?
(a) America's Race Problem.
(b) Caste in America.
(c) The American Web of Class and Race.
(d) An American Dilemma.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the opening analogy of the book, what is the melting permafrost being compared to?

2. On page 6, Wilkerson calls a financial crisis "cataclysmic." What kind of crisis was it?

3. On page 15, Wilkerson says of the old house that "whatever is lurking will fester." What is especially apt about her choice of the word "fester"?

4. What social trend does Wilkerson link to the 2016 election?

5. On page 11, what does Wilkerson indicate the term "evangelical voters" is code for?

(see the answer key)

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