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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. Who was the head computer when Langley began hiring black women?

2. In 1970, what percentage of engineers in America were black?

3. What did Langley do in hopes of turning the computers into junior engineers?

4. How did Leonard Vaughan and the other black children ensure they would get the pond to themselves?

5. Where did Mary Jackson work immediately after her first year of teaching.

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Howard Vaughan refuse to move from Farmville to live with his family in Newport News?

2. Why were Howard and Dorothy Vaughan an uneven match for one another?

3. Why did William Claytor create special classes just for Katherine Goble Johnson?

4. What does Shetterly want for the women she writes about in Hidden Figures?

5. What observation did black leaders make concerning the events occurring in Europe during World War II?

6. Why was it so difficult for Dorothy Vaughan to leave Farmville for her new job at Langley?

7. What was the attitude of the male engineers when a human computer made an error?

8. Why did Joshua Coleman rent a house for his wife and children that was 125 miles away from their home?

9. What did Mary Winston Jackson try to teach the girls in the Girl Scouts troop that she lead?

10. What did some supervisors at Langley do to encourage talented female computers to remain on the job?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Langley indicates that segregation was not only detrimental to black Americans, but also to white Americans. Write an essay describing the negative impacts of segregation on America as a whole. How did segregation impact the education system? How did it impact transportation? How did it impact world affairs?

Essay Topic 2

Shetterly dedicates an entire chapter to Mary Jackson’s son entering a soap box derby. Write an essay explaining the purpose of this chapter. How does the chapter relate to the themes of the book? What information about the individuals focused on does Shetterly communicate through this chapter? What information does the chapter communicate about racial relations during the time period?

Essay Topic 3

Shetterly periodically introduces a new individual in the book, which helps to move the story forward into the future. Write an essay describing the way in which Shetterly introduces individuals and how that keeps the timeline of the book moving forward. Why does Shetterly introduce individuals in the way she does? How does her introduction of new individuals show the way in which the work one woman did helped the next woman to succeed?

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