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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 Rankine and her husband spend much of their time doing for the past several decades?

2. What do the people in the workshop say about the scenario comparing a Black person to a monkey?

3. What does Notes on the State of Virginia conclude about the memories of Blacks and whites?

4. Which term, coined by Orlando Patterson, does Frank Wilderson III borrow, according to Rankine?

5. Why did Rankine bolster the security at her own home?

Short Essay Questions

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 What historical document from the 1700s does Rankine include extensive sections of in Part II?

2. Who popularized the phrase "white privilege" and when did it begin being used more often?

3. What are Shirley Cards?

4. In Part II, why does a white friend of Rankine's tell her she has to defend Rankine to her own white friends?

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

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

7. What statement of Hillary Clinton's does Rankine recall and quote on page 133, calling it appalling but not un-American?

8. How does Rankine feel contemplating the overwhelmingly white parents and teachers at her daughter's school?

9. What does Rankine describe Beyonce's album Lemonade as dealing with?

10. What is a major reason Rankine decides to go to marriage counseling with her husband?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Rankine feel about, and react to, the idea of "color-blindness" and to people's insistence that they do not "see color"? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

What is Rankine's reaction to her white male friend's recounting of a scenario in his diversity training - and his classmates' reaction to the scenario - in which one student in a classroom compares a piece of art depicting a Black person's face to a monkey (61)? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring Rankine's discussion of the idea of reparations, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 761 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample