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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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."

2. According to Wilkerson, what serves as a signal of rank within the American caste system?
(a) Race.
(b) Education.
(c) Religion.
(d) Wealth.

3. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what is Wilkerson's central claim?
(a) That Black Americans have had to learn an elaborate performance of inferiority.
(b) That even ordinary events like getting onto a bus reflect the premise that Blacks are inferior.
(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 American Blacks have historically been treated like animals.

4. In the beginning of "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what physical characteristic is the basis for Wilkerson's imaginary caste system?
(a) Sex.
(b) Height.
(c) Shoe size.
(d) Eye color.

5. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what does Wilkerson say Blacks found when they migrated North during the Great Migration?
(a) They were welcomed into trade unions, because larger union numbers benefited all workers.
(b) They were finally able to own property and begin creating family wealth.
(c) Although occupations were not closed to them by law, they were closed in practice.
(d) The same sets of laws they were trying to escape in the South started to be enacted in the North.

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

7. What was decided at the conference depicted in the opening of "The Nazis and the Acceleration of Caste"?
(a) The Lebensraum program.
(b) The plan to exterminate German Jews.
(c) The Nuremberg Laws.
(d) Forced sterilization of Jews.

8. In "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," where does Wilkerson say that the American caste system was born?
(a) In the Virginia colony.
(b) In South Carolina.
(c) In England.
(d) In the American South.

9. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what distinguishes "caste" from "class"?
(a) Caste is not related to economics.
(b) Caste is permanent and inescapable.
(c) Class cannot be inherited.
(d) Class is not a status marker.

10. 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?
(a) Discrimination.
(b) Racism.
(c) Caste.
(d) Race.

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

12. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what is the rhetorical purpose of including information about Hammond's nieces?
(a) It clarifies the relationship of the Hammond quotes to Wilkerson's claims.
(b) It impeaches Hammond's character.
(c) It supports Wilkerson's point about the hypocrisy of the upper caste.
(d) It demonstrates the subordinate role of women in America.

13. On page 11, what does Wilkerson indicate the term "evangelical voters" is code for?
(a) Rural.
(b) White.
(c) Bible Belt.
(d) Working class.

14. In "Pillar Number Six: Dehumanization and Stigma," Wilkerson explains that enslaved people were not allowed to cry as their families were separated. What is this meant to serve as an example of?
(a) Minstrelsy.
(b) Mockery.
(c) Dehumanization.
(d) Stigma.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Wilkerson, how are jobs assigned under the Indian caste system?

2. 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?

3. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," how does Wilkerson say North Carolina prevented Blacks from achieving economic independence?

4. 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?

5. In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what does Wilkerson say we are doing when we "see" race?

(see the answer keys)

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