View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what Lyndon Johnson prediction about Southern voters does Wilkerson relate?

2. In "Chapter Fourteen: The Intrusion of Caste in Everyday Life," what does Wilkerson use Tamir Rice's story to illustrate?

3. On page 287 of "Chapter Twenty-Two: The Stockholm Syndrome and the Survival of the Subordinate Class," what does Wilkerson blame on "the latitude granted these white saviors...[and] the collective desire to solve tribal wounds with superficial gestures of grace from the wounded"?

4. In "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," what does Wilkerson say is the cause of phenomena like an Iranian immigrant feeling moved to point out the existence of a blond-haired child somewhere in the family?

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?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is "dominant group status threat" and how does Wilkerson link it to mortality statistics in "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung"?

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

3. 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?

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

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

6. According to Wilkerson, in "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what impact has the census prediction for 2042 had on Whites in America?

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

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

9. 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"?

10. In "Chapter Sixteen: Last Place Anxiety: Packed in a Flooding Basement," what is the "crabs in a barrel" phenomenon Wilkerson discusses, and what additional way to look at the same situation does she propose?

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 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 3

Write an essay in which you take and defend a position about whether the sometimes shallow coverage of historical and sociological phenomena in Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is a weakness in Wilkerson's argument or is merely an effect of her attempt to appeal to a popular audience. Offer textual evidence for your claims, and be sure to cite all sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,348 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample