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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The author writes in Chapter 4 that the "sigh is the pathway to" what?
(a) "Love."
(b) "Breath."
(c) "The self."
(d) "Vulnerability."

2. What word from Chapter 3 means lacking normal clarity or intelligibility in speech or thought?
(a) Inexorable.
(b) Articulate.
(c) Incoherent.
(d) Astute.

3. The author writes in Chapter 4 that the past has "turned your flesh into its own" what?
(a) "Blackboard."
(b) "Cupboard."
(c) "Slate."
(d) "Table."

4. What does the author's friend say when the author is questioned by the cashier in Chapter 3?
(a) Nothing.
(b) "Back off."
(c) "Who are you to ask?"
(d) "What is your problem?"

5. What women's basketball team was insulted by the commentary of a radio host in 2007 during a discussion of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship?
(a) The Princeton University women's basketball team.
(b) The Yale University women's basketball team.
(c) The Harvard University women's basketball team.
(d) The Rutgers University women's basketball team.

6. Who is the researcher that came up with the term "John Henryism"?
(a) Sherman James.
(b) Mariana Alves.
(c) Chris Marker.
(d) Glenn Ligon.

7. The author claims in Chapter 1, "A friend argues that Americans battle between the 'historical self' and" what?
(a) "The 'self self.'"
(b) "The 'cultural self.'"
(c) "The need for power."
(d) "The 'future self.'"

8. What radio host is cited by the author in Chapter 3 for insulting a women's basketball team with racist slurs in Chapter 3?
(a) Howard Stern.
(b) Alex Jones.
(c) Glenn Ligon.
(d) Don Imus.

9. The author describes Hennessy Youngman in Chapter 2, saying that "He advises black artists to cultivate" what?
(a) "A wider world-view."
(b) "A beacon of yesterday."
(c) "An expression of desire."
(d) "An angry nigger exterior."

10. The author claims in Chapter 3 that "Language that feels hurtful is intended to exploit all the ways that you are" what?
(a) "Alive."
(b) "Present."
(c) "Enraged."
(d) "Oppressed."

11. When does the author first describe watching the Women's U.S. Open final in Chapter 2?
(a) 2007.
(b) 2009.
(c) 2013.
(d) 2011.

12. What is the name of Hennessy Youngman's internet series that the author discusses in Chapter 2?
(a) "Wonderworks."
(b) "Web Rulez."
(c) "Art Thoughtz."
(d) "Life Rules."

13. What artist stenciled the line "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background" on canvas, transforming the words into abstractions?
(a) Sherman James.
(b) Chris Marker.
(c) Jayson Musson.
(d) Glenn Ligon.

14. Whom does the author cite with the quote in Chapter 2, "I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background"?
(a) Chris Marker.
(b) Sherman James.
(c) Zora Neale Hurston.
(d) Jayson Musson.

15. What does the word "denigrate" mean in Chapter 3?
(a) To imply.
(b) To leave a situation.
(c) To elevate someone.
(d) To criticize unfairly.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the real estate woman repeatedly say to the author's friend when she is showing the author her house in Chapter 3?

2. In Chapter 3, the author describes Judith Baker discussing what makes language hurtful. She writes that Baker's response is "We suffer from the condition of being" what?

3. What does the author claim "isn't a cure for feeling, it is a clean displacement of effort, will, and disappointment" in Chapter 4?

4. The author concludes Chapter 3 by saying that what "shouldn't be an ambition"?

5. How old does the author describe the school girl in Chapter 1?

(see the answer keys)

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