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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 7: "Part Seven: Awakening" and "Epilogue: A World Without Caste".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Chapter Thirty-One: The Heart Is the Last Frontier," why does Wilkerson begin her story with the date?
(a) She is alluding to a famous historical event that occurred on the same date.
(b) She is mimicking the structure of the source she is parodying.
(c) She wants to reader to understand the story in the context of Trump's election.
(d) She wants the reader to understand how recently the story occurred.

2. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," where does Wilkerson say that the idea of race began?
(a) During the Moorish invasion of Spain.
(b) In the transatlantic slave trade.
(c) In colonial India.
(d) In Ancient Greece and Rome.

3. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," Wilkerson relates the story of a white Brooklyn woman who called the police because of an alleged "sexual assault." How old was the Black person she told the police had assaulted her?
(a) 70.
(b) 9.
(c) 60.
(d) 14.

4. In "Through the Fog of Delhi to the Parallels in India and America," what is one of the main differences that Wilkerson notes between caste in America and caste in India?
(a) The American system is for the most part a binary one.
(b) Blacks in America are not permanently confined to the lowest caste.
(c) There is no attempt being made in modern India to improve the situation of the lowest caste.
(d) The lowest caste in India was never enslaved.

5. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is Wilkerson's central claim?
(a) That even ordinary events like getting onto a bus reflect the premise that Blacks are inferior.
(b) That American Blacks have historically been treated like animals.
(c) That the caste system depends on all members of the lowest caste being treated as inferior to all members of the highest caste.
(d) That Black Americans have had to learn an elaborate performance of inferiority.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," what does Wilkerson tell Gwen Ifill she thinks is behind Trump's popularity?

2. In "Chapter Thirty-One: The Heart Is the Last Frontier," to what does Wilkerson seem to attribute the greater helpfulness of the HVAC contractor?

3. According to Wilkerson, who is at the top of the "ladder of humanity" created by colonists in North America?

4. When 20 Black people arrived in the New World on a Dutch ship in 1619, what were they classified as?

5. Which leading Black intellectual corresponded with Bhimrao Ambedkar about race in America?

(see the answer key)

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