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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 "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," what does Wilkerson say is the "greatest threat to a caste system" (224)?

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Price We Pay for a Caste System," what does Wilkerson blame for the relatively low quality of life in the United States?

3. In "Chapter Ten: Central Miscasting," how many other people of African descent are at the London conference besides Wilkerson?

4. In "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," what does Wilkerson say was the true purpose behind erecting Confederate monuments?

5. In "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung," Wilkerson discusses biases that occur without thought. What is this kind of bias called?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Chapter Fifteen: The Urgent Necessity of a Bottom Rung," what historical discussion of the French treatment of Black American soldiers does Wilkerson relate?

2. In "Chapter Twenty-Six: Turning Point and the Resurgence of Caste," whom does Wilkerson call the most loyal voters of the Republican Party, and how does the party treat them, according to her?

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

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

5. 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?

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

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

8. In "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," why does Wilkerson devote so much space to a discussion of Robert E. Lee's treatment of people he held as slaves?

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-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," why does Wilkerson quote the vice president of the Confederacy's statement about the purpose of the Confederacy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

On page 388, Wilkerson says "We are responsible for our own ignorance or, with time and openhearted enlightenment, our own wisdom. We are responsible for ourselves and our own deeds or misdeeds in our time and in our own space and will be judged accordingly by succeeding generations.” Write an essay in which you explain her meaning and in which you defend, refute, or qualify this statement. Offer textual support for your claims and cite any outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay in which you analyze Wilkerson's use of expert testimony in Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Your essay should be organized around a thesis that makes a claim about the rhetorical purpose and effectiveness of this expert testimony. Support your claims with evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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