View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Chapter Sixteen: Last Place Anxiety: Packed in a Flooding Basement," what kind of stratification within America's lowest caste does Wilkerson note?
(a) Stratification based on wealth.
(b) Stratification based on gender.
(c) Stratification based on skin tone.
(d) Stratification based on educational achievement.

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," Wilkerson says that Clinton might have suffered from the "Bradley Effect." What does this mean?
(a) Because of social stigma around Trump, voters told people they were going to vote for Clinton but actually voted for Trump.
(b) Polls tend to under-represent older white voters in agricultural states.
(c) During relatively good economic times voters are more likely to vote for conservative candidates.
(d) White women did not support Clinton because their primary loyalty was to their caste.

3. In "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung," what does Wilkerson argue the lowest-status Whites have been given in the place of real security and opportunity?
(a) False promises about economic growth.
(b) Dominance over political systems.
(c) The illusion of racial superiority.
(d) The possibility of climbing into the middle class.

4. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," what is the story of Burton Holmes and Freddie Stowers meant to illustrate?
(a) Even Black soldiers have not been exempt from racial harassment.
(b) The American system will go to great lengths to suppress or ignore lower-caste success.
(c) The United States government does not extend the same veteran's support and benefits to Black soldiers.
(d) The French made white Americans uncomfortable by praising Black soldiers.

5. 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?
(a) Wardens in a prison.
(b) Whites deputized to police escaped slaves.
(c) Zookeepers reacting with fear to escaped "animals."
(d) Adults supervising a race of "children."

Short Answer 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)?

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Price We Pay for a Caste System," what is the anecdote about physicist Lean Lederman intended to illustrate?

3. What prejudice does Tushar, from the London conference in "Chapter Ten: Central Miscasting," say exists inside Indian castes?

4. In "Chapter Twenty-Four: Cortisol, Telomeres, and the Lethality of Caste," what are the "telomeres" Wilkerson talks about?

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," Wilkerson says that marginalized people have to learn the "idiosyncrasies" of the ruling class. In this content, what is the best definition of "idiosyncrasy"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Wilkerson explain the greater scrutiny America focuses on Democrats in "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste"?

2. "Chapter Seventeen: On the Early Front Lines of Caste" tells the story of Allison Davis's early career. Who was he, and what important work did he contribute to scholarship about race in America?

3. Who was Satchel Paige, and what does his life story illustrate about race in America?

4. Describe the "Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes" experiment and its results.

5. Explain what Erich Fromm says about group narcissism, as described by Wilkerson in "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste."

6. Explain what Wilkerson finds particularly abhorrent about the film clip of Hitler that she describes in "Chapter Nineteen: The Euphoria of Hate."

7. In"Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," to what does Wilkerson compare the American habit of asking where people's families are from, and why?

8. What is "variolation," and how did the route of its introduction into Colonial America interfere with its adoption?

9. What principle is Wilkerson trying to illustrate with her personal anecdotes about flying first class in "Chapter Twenty-Three: Shock Troops on the Borders of Hierarchy"?

10. In "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," why does Wilkerson say that Barack Obama's parentage helped in his election bid?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,339 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample