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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. In "Through the Fog of Delhi to the Parallels in India and America," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the detail of the fog that Wilkerson sees when her plane lands?

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

3. In "Pillar Number Five: Occupational Hierarchy: The Jatis and the Mudsill," what is the rhetorical purpose of including the Hammond quotes?

4. According to "The Trials of the Middle Castes: The Race to Get Under the White Tent," what caused the Supreme Court to rule that "White" means "Caucasian"?

5. According to "Pillar Number Four: Purity versus Pollution," what did the United States use to "curate" its population (123)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. In "'The Container We Have Built for You,'" how does "Miss" end up with her unusual first name?

4. In "Pillar Number Six: Dehumanization and Stigma," what similarities does Wilkerson see between the treatment of Blacks in the time of slavery and Jews entering Nazi camps?

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

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

7. 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"?

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

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

10. According to Wilkerson, how did slavery create the conditions for American stereotypes about Black people?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you trace the "journey" to inclusion among the "White" caste of an immigrant group whose status was questionable at one time in American history (the Irish, Italians, etc.). In the second part of your essay, consider how this information either supports, refutes, or qualifies Wilkerson's work. Use textual evidence to support your claims. Be sure to cite your sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that defends, refutes, or qualifies the following claim: "In Caste: The Origins of our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson is not arguing against social hierarchies but rather against assigning a place within the hierarchy based on race." Use textual evidence to support your argument; if you use outside sources, be sure to cite them in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim regarding one of the "Pillars" of caste that Wilkerson lays out in "Part Three: The Eight Pillars of Caste." Use textual support for your claim, and be sure to cite all sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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