View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What specific topic did George Wallace run successfully on?

2. What phrase do people who want to excuse men's inappropriate or even abusive behavior towards women often say, according to Rankine?

3. When was the word "privilege" first used, according to Rankine?

4. Which fashion brand does Rankine write cultivated an aura of the white, wealthy country-club set throughout the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s?

5. What does Rankine refer to when she uses the term "R and R" in Part III?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the very beginning of Part III, what does Rankine write that she is attempting to understand?

2. In Part IV, what kinds of conversations does Rankine include excerpts from?

3. In Part IV, what does a white man say to a white woman - ostensibly his partner - when she arrives at the airport gate late?

4. Where does Rankine say the term "people of color" first came from?

5. What does Rankine mean when she asks the question, "Whose boys get to be boys?" (264).

6. Why does Rankine think it is particularly puzzling that the white female judge in Part IV seems to fear for her son's life as he moves to Brooklyn?

7. What makes Rankine so angry at the play Fairview?

8. What kinds of experiments does Rankine recall when discussing the young age at which most children begin exhibiting racial preferences?

9. Which trope does Rankine feel she is "sailing closer and closer to" in Part III at a dinner party and why does she feel this way (149)?

10. What did the actress Eartha Kitt do in 1968 that led to her being blacklisted?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the relationship between Rankine's serious illness (cancer), her decision to see a marriage therapist with her white husband, and her life-long cumulative experiences of racism? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

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

Why does Rankine's white friend's behavior at the play "Fairview" upset her so much? How does the white friend's written response change Rankine's view on the events of that night? Write an essay explaining your answers.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 863 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample