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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. For what was Jeremiah Reeves sentenced to death?

2. What did Claudette feel about the blacks' self image?

3. What does the person who came up to Claudette do?

4. How much did blacks make in relation to whites?

5. Why did two Montgomery police come on board the bus?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Claudette decide to rebel and why wouldn't the white woman sit down?

2. How was riding the bus rules set up for black or white persons?

3. Who was Jo Ann Robinson, how did she work for blacks, and how did she feel about Claudette's action?

4. How did Claudette change under Nesbitt's mentoring and what did she read that made her what to help the black people?

5. How did Claudette feel on the way home, what did her family fear and what did their Reverend say about the incident?

6. What happened with Jeremiah Reeves that angered the black community?

7. What happened to a black man named Brooks on a bus in Montgomery?

8. What did Robinson remember and what did she begin to do?

9. How old was Claudette when she found out what happened when blacks acted up against whites and how did she acquire that knowledge?

10. What did Nesbitt teach Claudette about black history?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Claudette was now the center of attention wherever she traveled. Many loved her, but others were angry that she made things harder on others. Claudette faced criminal charges, however, and it was not clear what would happen to her.

1. How do you think you would feel if you became the center of attention for a courageous act? What would you do if this had been you? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Why do you think some people were angry at Claudette because they thought she was making things harder on others? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. Explain, in depth, why you do or do not think Claudette did anything that could be called criminal. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Claudette was four years old when she found out what happened when blacks acted up against whites. Some white boys came up to her and wanted to see her hands. They touched each other's hands and the boys laughed. When Claudette's mother saw them, she came up to Claudette and slapped her across the face and told her that she's not supposed to touch white people. The white boy's mother agreed. She learned to never touch white people again.

1. Discuss how you think the above incident could affect someone's self-esteem. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Many southern white women used black women as "nannies" or for child care. Discuss what might be contradictory about allowing black women to care for white children, which would include holding them, bathing them, etc. and black children being told they could not touch white children. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. In the 1960's Grace Haskell dyed her skin and traveled America as a black woman. She was the exact same person under the black skin and yet simply because she was dark her experience of the country and people became different. In view of the incident with Claudette above, discuss the insanity of prejudice on the basis of skin color. You might want to start your discussion about how a white woman who becomes black all of a sudden was not good enough to touch another white person. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Claudette was most curious about how whites came to rule them. She was taught that whites thought they were a special race, but she did not believe it.

1. Do you think the history blacks learned in school was the truth about how whites came to "rule" them? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. What changes do you think it makes to black children's lives now that black history is taught in schools? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. What evidence do you think Claudette saw in her life to make her believe that whites were not a special race? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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