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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What event occurred in Washington D.C. on August 8, 1925?
(a) Bombings of several Black churches.
(b) A deadly clash between anti-racist protestors and white supremacist groups.
(c) A hurricane that damaged the city.
(d) A large Ku Klux Klan rally.

2. What year was the document Notes on the State of Virginia written in?
(a) 1805.
(b) 1904.
(c) 1781.
(d) 1790.

3. Who did Malcolm X say was the most disrespected, unprotected, and neglected person in America?
(a) The Asian woman.
(b) The white woman.
(c) The Black woman.
(d) The Black man.

4. Which of the following does the Notes on the State of Virginia conclude about Blacks?
(a) They do not have as long of a lifespan as whites.
(b) They do not reproduce as easily as whites.
(c) They are less muscular than whites.
(d) They require less sleep than whites.

5. What question does Rankine ask about white being being able to speak to their own whiteness in Part I?
(a) If white people can't see their own whiteness, how can they speak to it?
(b) If white people are all highly paid, why should they be moved to speak to their whiteness?
(c) If white people do not read history, how can they speak to their whiteness?
(d) If white people are all tired of talking about police brutality, how can they speak to their whiteness?

Short Answer Questions

1. Which poet described love partially as "a close reading"?

2. What did the man on the plane tell Rankine he misrepresented to her in his story about his hometown?

3. How does the document Notes on the State of Virginia characterize the griefs of Black people?

4. At the very end of Part II, what statement does Rankine recall a white woman saying to her several weeks earlier?

5. What song did Rankine and one of her white male co-travelers in Part I both love?

Short Essay Questions

1. What historical document from the 1700s does Rankine include extensive sections of in Part II?

2. What are Shirley Cards?

3. What is the name of the class Rankine eventually began teaching and continues to teach at Yale?

4. What is one problem Rankine has with the scenario her white friend on a diversity training tells her about regarding a classroom situation?

5. What assertion that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kanavagh made in his senate confirmation hearing does Rankine take issue with in Part I?

6. What does Rankine quote Malcolm X as saying about Black women in America?

7. What is one major event in Rankine's life that she discusses in Part II as forcing her to reassess her life as a whole?

8. What rude and racist behavior does Rankine routinely encounter at airports?

9. What painful incident does Rankine recall happening on her college campus the year prior to her attendance there in 1981?

10. What is the significance of the "Unite the Right" rally that took place in Charlottesville Virginia in 2017, according to Rankine?

(see the answer keys)

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