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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. What did Shetterly say was one of Katherine Goble Johnson's "great talents?"

2. What was the name of America's first manned space project?

3. What was the name of Mary Jackson's son who entered into the soap box derby race?

4. What did James Williams have to do on his first day of work at Langley?

5. Why was it difficult for Mary Jackson to attend engineering classes at Hampton High School?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did the governor of Virginia respond to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling and what was the result?

2. Why was there confusion about which room to place Katherine Goble Johnson's mother in when she was in the hospital?

3. Why did Katherine and Jimmy Goble have to stay with relatives when they attended Jimmy's sister's wedding?

4. What was Mary Jackson's reaction the first time she walked into Hampton High School to take engineering classes?

5. What happened at Moton High School that drew them into the Brown v. Board of Education case?

6. How did black families handle the closing of schools in Prince Edward due to defunding by segregationists?

7. Why did Mary Jackson think it was important for her son to participate in the soap box derby?

8. Why did the talk that Mary Jackson and Emma Jean gave to a group of girls have such a great impact on the girls?

9. Why was the U.S. Army called to a school in Little Rock, Arkansas?

10. What happened that allowed Katherine Goble Johnson the opportunity to publish her first research report?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay discussing Shetterly’s motives for writing Hidden Figures. What does she mean when she says that past events can help shed light on the modern world? What insight does Hidden Figures provide about the modern world?

Essay Topic 3

Shetterly writes about the way that segregation affected black students both positively and negatively. Write an essay discussing the way segregation both helped and hindered black students. What were the negative effects? What were the positive effects?

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This section contains 970 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample