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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 Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste," what term does Wilkerson introduce that refers to a white person explaining to a Black person something that the Black person has better credentials to understand?

2. What prejudice does Tushar, from the London conference in "Chapter Ten: Central Miscasting," say exists inside Indian castes?

3. In "Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Symbols of Caste," Wilkerson says that the tarp-covered statue looks like "a giant chifforobe" (334). What is a "chifforobe"?

4. According to "Chapter Twenty-Five: A Change in the Script," what percentage of White voters voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012?

5. In "Chapter Nineteen: The Euphoria of Hate," what film footage does Wilkerson describe?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Explain what Erich Fromm says about group narcissism, as described by Wilkerson in "Chapter Twenty: The Inevitable Narcissism of Caste."

3. 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?

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

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

6. 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?

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

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. "Chapter Seventeen: On the Early Front Lines of Caste" tells the story of Allison Davis's early career. Who was he, and what important work did he contribute to scholarship 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

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 an essay that makes and defends a claim related to "status threat" as Wilkerson explains it in "Chapter Eleven: Dominant Group Status Threat and the Precarity of the Highest Rung." Be sure to cite all sources in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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