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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. 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) Its connotations evoke the idea of a swamp or mire.
(c) It has a lighter and more comic "sound" than the synonyms Wilkerson might have chosen.
(d) Its sibilance is part of an alliterative pattern.

2. About how many years did American slavery last?
(a) 50 years.
(b) 350 years.
(c) 250 years.
(d) 150 years.

3. In "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," what does Wilkerson say Americans want to dismiss as a "sad, dark chapter" of American history (43)?
(a) Slavery.
(b) The Colonial treatment of Blacks.
(c) The Trump presidency.
(d) The Jim Crow era.

4. Where does the word "caste" come from?
(a) The Old Norse word "kasta," meaning "throw."
(b) The Middle English "outcasten," meaning "to expel or reject."
(c) The Latin "castus," meaning "chaste."
(d) The Portuguese word "casta," meaning "breed" or "race."

5. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the Hammond quotes?
(a) It demonstrates that religious belief is incompatible with endorsement of a caste system.
(b) This illustrates the depth of hatred that White Southerners had for the lowest caste.
(c) It bolsters Wilkerson's ethos, making the reader more receptive to her claims about India.
(d) This is a defining historical moment that explicitly supports the chapter's central claim.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," where does Wilkerson say the term "Caucasian" came from?

3. On page 68 of "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what does Wilkerson say is "one of the most contentious and misunderstood" words in American culture?

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

5. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is the Louise Beavers anecdote meant to illustrate?

(see the answer key)

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