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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Wilkerson in In "Chapter Six: The Measure of Humanity," what do social scientists say combines with racial bias to produce racism?

2. What departure from legal precedent was made in the Virginia Assembly's decision that the children of enslaved women should also be considered slaves?

3. About how many years did American slavery last?

4. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what is the rhetorical purpose of including information about Hammond's nieces?

5. How many American states had laws officially prohibiting marriage between Blacks and whites?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the relationship between Hammond's "Mudsill" speech and the economic uses of caste that Wilkerson describes in "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill."

2. Summarize the analogy Wilkerson makes between the thawing of the Siberian permafrost and the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

3. What is the rhetorical purpose of stressing the length of time that slavery existed in America?

4. How does Wilkerson use the colonial census as support for her argument about caste in colonial America?

5. What is the rhetorical purpose of including the anecdote about Willie James Howard in "Pillar Number Three: Endogamy and the Control of Marriage and Mating"?

6. What explanation does Wilkerson give of the justification for slavery in Christian scriptures in "Pillar Number One: Divine Will and the Laws of Nature"?

7. According to Wilkerson, what relationship exists between immigration or transportation to America and "becoming" white or Black?

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

9. Explain the analogy that Wilkerson makes in "The Vitals of History."

10. In "The Hierarchy of Trace Amounts: Griffes, Marabons, and Sangmelees," what are the words "Griffes, Marabons, and Sangmelees," and what point do they illustrate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you evaluate Wilkerson's case for Nazi Germany as a caste system. Offer textual evidence for your claims, and be sure to cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you evaluate the extent to which Wilkerson's argument depends on argument by analogy. Discuss what other forms of argument and support she uses, the weight that argument by analogy has in the overall text, and how effective Wilkerson's analogies are in advancing her overall thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Write your own argument of definition. You may write on any topic you choose, as long as you create a tenable thesis. Be sure to cite any sources in MLA format.

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