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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 3: "Part Three: The Eight Pillars of Caste".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When legislation was finally adopted to limit the workday of enslaved persons, how long did their workday become?
(a) 9-10 hours.
(b) 18 hours.
(c) 12 hours.
(d) 14-15 hours.

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

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"?
(a) It has meanings that can be applied to both literal structures and to abstract structures.
(b) It has a lighter and more comic "sound" than the synonyms Wilkerson might have chosen.
(c) Its sibilance is part of an alliterative pattern.
(d) Its connotations evoke the idea of a swamp or mire.

4. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what happened to Forest Whitaker at a Manhattan Deli?
(a) An employee referred to him using a racial epithet.
(b) A customer assumed that he was a busboy.
(c) He was accused of shoplifting.
(d) He was assaulted by a police officer.

5. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," Wilkerson says that actions that reinforce the caste system are "autonomic." What is the best meaning of this word in this context?
(a) Involuntary, occurring without choice.
(b) Autonomous, occurring without social or environmental input.
(c) Spontaneous, occurring without planning.
(d) Automatic, occurring without conscious thought.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," how does Wilkerson say the state of South Carolina tried to keep Blacks out of all jobs other than domestic service and farming?

2. About how many years did American slavery last?

3. In "Pillar Number Seven: Terror as Enforcement, Cruelty as a Means of Control," what common misunderstanding of the slave system in America does Wilkerson dispute?

4. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," where does Wilkerson say that the idea of race began?

5. On page 16, Wilkerson says that people adjust to the "idiosyncrasies" of an old house. What is she saying that they adjust to?

(see the answer key)

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