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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the opening of "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what does Wilkerson call "The greatest departure from the script of the American caste system" (311)?
(a) The election of Barack Obama.
(b) The toppling of the Confederate monuments.
(c) The Voting Rights Act.
(d) Reconstruction.

2. In "Chapter Twelve: A Scapegoat to Bear the Sins of the World," what does Wilkerson say Austin police initially said about the bomb-related death of Stephan House?
(a) That it was likely a hate crime.
(b) It might be drug-related, or House might have accidentally blown himself up.
(c) That it was probably the work of a serial bomber.
(d) That House was the probable suspect in a string of bombings.

3. In "Chapter Thirteen: The Insecure Alpha and the Purpose of an Underdog," what is Wilkerson arguing about the role of the "omega" wolf, at the bottom of the pack hierarchy?
(a) That humans should treat people at the bottom of the human "pack" with more kindness and respect.
(b) That since humans are not canines, it is not relevant to human societies.
(c) It performs a valuable and necessary role.
(d) That it does not actually exist in natural wolf groupings.

4. In "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," whom does Wilkerson quote as saying that there was nothing more important than making sure that Obama did not win a second election?
(a) The leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
(b) The pastor of the largest evangelical church in Alabama.
(c) The Republican Senate Majority Leader.
(d) An Arizona governor.

5. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," which group does Wilkerson say is the most susceptible to collective narcissism?
(a) The white working class.
(b) Poor and marginalized whites.
(c) The white upper class.
(d) The white middle class.

6. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," what term does Wilkerson introduce that refers to a white person explaining to a Black person something that the Black person has better credentials to understand?
(a) Boundary-blindness.
(b) Bulldozing.
(c) Whitesplaining.
(d) Brahmin-splaining.

7. In "Chapter Seventeen: On the Early Front Lines of Caste," what is the main difference between the various works that Wilkerson discusses?
(a) The gender of their authors.
(b) Their position regarding whether American does or does not have a caste system.
(c) Whether or not the authors actually had first-hand experience in the system they were writing about.
(d) The race of their authors.

8. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," to which narcissistic family role does Wilkerson compare indigenous peoples?
(a) The "peacemaker."
(b) The "golden child."
(c) The "lost child."
(d) The "scapegoat."

9. According to "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what percentage of White voters voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012?
(a) 32% each time.
(b) 43 and 39%, respectively.
(c) 45% each time.
(d) 38 and 23%, respectively.

10. In "Chapter Nineteen: The Euphoria of Hate," what film footage does Wilkerson describe?
(a) Hitler's return to Germany after the conquest of Paris.
(b) The trial of the police officers who killed Freddie Gray.
(c) The liberation of Auschwitz.
(d) The last public lynching in Georgia.

11. In "Chapter Twenty-Four: Cortisol, Telomeres, and the Lethality of Caste," what are the "telomeres" Wilkerson talks about?
(a) The cell sites that respond to chemicals like cortisol.
(b) Diseases related to stress.
(c) A part of the DNA strand that shortens with aging.
(d) Stress hormones.

12. In "Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Price We Pay for a Caste System," what does Wilkerson blame for the relatively low quality of life in the United States?
(a) Rivalry based in a caste system.
(b) Governmental dysfunction.
(c) The cost of suppressing Black talent.
(d) A two-tiered educational system.

13. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," Wilkerson explains a complicated "solution" to a problem presented by free Black passengers on steamboats of the nineeenth century. What was this problem?
(a) At what times they would be allowed on deck.
(b) Where they would be allowed to sleep.
(c) How and when to feed them.
(d) Where they would bathe and use the bathroom.

14. In "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy," what solution does the flight attendant offer Wilkerson when other first class passengers seem to be making antagonistic comments about her race?
(a) They can ask the pilot to land the plane and have the passengers ejected.
(b) They can move the other passengers into coach.
(c) They can move Wilkerson into coach.
(d) Wilkerson can stand in the flight attendants' area in the front of the plane.

15. In "Chapter Ten: Central Miscasting," how many other people of African descent are at the London conference besides Wilkerson?
(a) None.
(b) The conference is primarily attended by Africans and African Americans.
(c) Dozens.
(d) One.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Chapter Thirteen: The Insecure Alpha and the Purpose of an Underdog," what does Wilkerson's dog trainer tell her she is behaving like?

2. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," what does Wilkerson compare to the modern phenomenon of whites calling the police on Blacks who are just going about ordinary everyday business?

3. In "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," Wilkerson mentions the "Lost Cause." What does this term refer to?

4. On page 287 of "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does Wilkerson blame on "the latitude granted these white saviors...[and] the collective desire to solve tribal wounds with superficial gestures of grace from the wounded"?

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," whom does Wilkerson name as the most loyal voters of the Republican Party?

(see the answer keys)

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