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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What social trend does Wilkerson link to the 2016 election?
(a) The offshoring of manufacturing jobs.
(b) A rise in anxiety and depression.
(c) An increase in hate crimes.
(d) A decrease in undocumented immigration.

2. 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.

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

4. 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?
(a) That many slaveholders were cruel just because they could be.
(b) That many slaves entered into consensual relationships with slaveholders.
(c) That slaves were too "valuable" to be mistreated.
(d) That brutality against slaves was the result of whites' fear of slave rebellion.

5. On page 6, Wilkerson refers to white "preeminence." What quality is she referring to?
(a) Unjustified rage.
(b) Using language and mannerisms that indicate superiority.
(c) Having the highest rank or position.
(d) Devotion to tradition or already existing institutions.

6. Which of the following is the traditional Indian word for "caste"?
(a) Varna.
(b) Kshatriya.
(c) Vaishya.
(d) Dalit.

7. In the 1863 Draft Riots, what immigrant group perpetrated violence against Blacks?
(a) Italians.
(b) Chinese.
(c) Irish.
(d) Germans.

8. 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) Autonomous, occurring without social or environmental input.
(b) Involuntary, occurring without choice.
(c) Automatic, occurring without conscious thought.
(d) Spontaneous, occurring without planning.

9. In the opening analogy of the book, what is the melting permafrost being compared to?
(a) Racism.
(b) The 2016 election.
(c) Denial of climate change.
(d) A "silent" earthquake.

10. To what Supreme Court case does Wilkerson allude in her "Pillar Number Four: Purity versus Pollution" story about the shoemaker who sued for the right to ride in the white car of the train?
(a) Plessy v. Ferguson.
(b) Marbury v. Madison.
(c) Loving v. Virginia.
(d) Dred Scott v. Sandford.

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

12. At what famous Alabama bridge did the police violently attack peaceful protesters on their way to Montgomery?
(a) The Seven Mile Bridge.
(b) The Benson Bridge.
(c) The New River Gorge Bridge.
(d) The Edmund Pettus Bridge.

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

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

15. 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) Personification.
(b) Litotes.
(c) Metonymy.
(d) Apostrophe.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Vitals of History," what does Wilkerson compare an honest and rigorous study of history to?

2. In "Pillar Number Six: Dehumanization and Stigma," what is the best definition of the word "stigma"?

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

4. To whom is Wilkerson referring on page 4 when she describes someone as "a no-nonsense national figure overqualified by some estimates"?

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 keys)

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