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

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," Wilkerson says that when people vote, they often choose to vote in a way that will do what?
(a) Empower a candidate who appeals to their worst instincts.
(b) Protect the best interests of their own highest-status trait.
(c) Show solidarity with those who share their lowest-status trait.
(d) Consider the needs of the many instead of the needs of the few.

3. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," what is the story of Burton Holmes and Freddie Stowers meant to illustrate?
(a) The American system will go to great lengths to suppress or ignore lower-caste success.
(b) Even Black soldiers have not been exempt from racial harassment.
(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.

4. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," what does Wilkerson say is the "greatest threat to a caste system" (224)?
(a) Upper-caste failure.
(b) Lower-caste success.
(c) Upper-caste success.
(d) Lower-caste failure.

5. What fact does Wilkerson offer in "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste" to refute the common idea that economic insecurity cause people to vote for Trump?
(a) Clinton won among Whites with no college degree.
(b) Clinton won the popular vote.
(c) Clinton won among voters in the lowest economic bracket.
(d) Clinton won among non-White voters.

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. Just before the 2008 election, what mailing did many Americans receive that Wilkerson, in "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," says became an "inadvertent leaflet in favor of the Democrat" (312)?

3. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," how did the incident at People's Grocery begin?

4. 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?

5. In "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does the Black bailiff do when the white killer of a Black man begins crying about her conviction?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Chapter Twelve: A Scapegoat to Bear the Sins of the World," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the anecdote about the murder of Carol DiMaiti?

2. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the anecdote about the father and toddler in the restaurant?

3. When an Indian academic asks Wilkerson, in "Central Miscasting," what her position is in the American caste system, what does she tell him, and why?

4. In "Chapter Sixteen: Last Place Anxiety: Packed in a Flooding Basement," what idea does Wilkerson use the story of Freddie Gray to illustrate?

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

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

7. Summarize the story Wilkerson tells in "Chapter Twenty-One: The German Girl with the Dark, Wavy Hair."

8. What is the Stockholm Syndrome, and how does Wilkerson apply it to race relations in "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Caste"?

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

10. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," what does Wilkerson say about understanding the voting of lower-class whites?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,440 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample