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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To whom is Wilkerson referring on page 4 when she describes someone as "a no-nonsense national figure overqualified by some estimates"?
(a) Bernie Sanders.
(b) Donald Trump.
(c) Barack Obama.
(d) Hillary Clinton.

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

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

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 idea that the house has a story to tell is an example of what literary technique?
(a) Apostrophe.
(b) Metonymy.
(c) Litotes.
(d) Personification.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what distinguishes "caste" from "class"?

2. On page 6, Wilkerson calls a financial crisis "cataclysmic." What kind of crisis was it?

3. 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"?

4. According to Wilkerson in "The Second Pillar: Heritability," what happened to Forest Whitaker at a Manhattan Deli?

5. In "Pillar Number One: Divine Will and the Laws of Nature," what is Wilkerson's central claim?

Short Essay Questions

1. What explanation does Wilkerson give of the origins of caste in Hindu scriptures in "Pillar Number One: Divine Will and the Laws of Nature"?

2. What is the rhetorical purpose of Wilkerson telling the story about the man who refuses to believe that she works for the New York Times?

3. In "Pillar Number Four: Purity versus Pollution," what claim does Wilkerson make about water, and how does she support her claim?

4. For what reason does Wilkerson say that race is a social concept, not a biological one?

5. In "Pillar Number Eight: Inherent Superiority versus Inherent Inferiority," what does Wilkerson say underlies each of the first seven "pillars" she has already described?

6. In "An America Untouchable," what is the purpose of the many examples of historical writings?

7. Explain the titular analogy in "An Old House and an Infrared Light."

8. According to "A Long-Running Play and the Emergence of Caste in America," what was the original justification for lifetime enslavement, and how did that justification need to change as circumstances changed?

9. How does Wilkerson explain the differences between race and caste?

10. To what cause does Wilkerson ascribe the election of Donald Trump?

(see the answer keys)

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