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

2. Who wrote the book The Color of Law?

3. What does Notes on the State of Virginia conclude that the Black race could not produce?

4. What does Rankine say of her own white husband's attitude towards white privilege?

5. Why did one white friend of Rankine's tell her she had to defend her to her other white friends often?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 What historical document from the 1700s does Rankine include extensive sections of in Part II?

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

10. What are Shirley Cards?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay discussing the symbolism and significance behind blond hair in Rankine's lengthy analysis of it, especially regarding women of color's decision to dye their hair blonde.

Essay Topic 2

"I sometimes joke that my optimism has been stolen by white supremacy," Rankine writes towards the end of the book (327). Write an essay interpreting the larger meaning of this statement in the wider context of the book, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

At the end of the book, Rankine reveals that she asked a friend to read a draft of the book and the friend told her that the book did not lay out any real "strategy" (334). Do you agree with this critique? Why or why not? Write an essay explaining your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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