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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. On page 16, Wilkerson says that people adjust to the "idiosyncrasies" of an old house. What is she saying that they adjust to?
(a) Its peculiar or unique features.
(b) Its layout and design.
(c) Its positive qualities.
(d) Its negative qualities.

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

3. According to Wilkerson's explanation on page 9, why did Democrats hesitate to impeach Trump?
(a) Many had investments in Trump businesses.
(b) Fear of backlash from his base.
(c) Fear of retribution from Trump himself.
(d) The evidence was unclear.

4. Which leading Black intellectual corresponded with Bhimrao Ambedkar about race in America?
(a) Booker T. Washington.
(b) William Monroe Trotter.
(c) Thurgood Marshall.
(d) W.E.B. Du Bois.

5. What technique does Wilkerson use for the first time in the beginning of "An Old House and an Infrared Light"?
(a) Analogy.
(b) Anecdote.
(c) Rhetorical questions.
(d) First person point of view.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. On page 6, Wilkerson refers to white "preeminence." What quality is she referring to?

3. In the opening anecdote of the book, what escapes from the melting permafrost?

4. Besides the caste systems in India and the United States, which other caste system does Wilkerson say that she will focus on?

5. 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?

(see the answer key)

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