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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. Which university does Rankine work for?

2. What was the name of the 2017 Virginia rally of white supremacists?

3. In which city in Virginia did a white supremacist rally take place in 2017?

4. What phrase does Rankine's seatmate on a flight in Part I say that Rankine says pulls an emergency brake in her brain?

5. What is one possible reason Rankine thinks white people do not develop close friendships with Black people?

Short Essay Questions

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 What historical document from the 1700s does Rankine include extensive sections of in Part II?

2. What is the tension for Rankine as she expresses it in her poem in Part I in the call to change?

3. What are Shirley Cards?

4. What is the origin of this book's title?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of the book, Rankine asks herself the searching question of whether understanding itself constitutes real change, and she says she is not sure. Write an essay explaining whether you think understanding is change.

Essay Topic 2

How does tennis star Naomi Osaka's experiences with the media highlight the ubiquity of racism not just in the United States but in other countries, too? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay discussing Rankine's analysis of the Trump administration's family separation policy regarding immigrant families at the southern border, citing specific references to the text to help support your answers.

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