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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. Oluo recalls finding out later in life that many of her childhood friends' parents had fled from countries affected by what?

2. What item does Oluo deem unacceptable for white people to wear at music festivals?

3. Oluo states that "at its core," cultural appropriation is "about ownership of one's" (114) what?

4. When Oluo was young, her mother made ends meet by taking on a family of how many people as roommates?

5. With what emotion did Oluo's coworkers watch the situation after the division director asked Oluo a question at the meeting?

Short Essay Questions

1. What point does Oluo make about the negative effects of the optimism in the 1980s regarding race relations?

2. Who is Sagan and for what purpose does Oluo introduce his story?

3. Who was Tamir Rice and why is his story significant?

4. What was the number one quality in a friend that meant the most to Oluo during her childhood and why?

5. What length of time does Oluo claim will have to pass before white people can utter the ‘n’ word without causing harm to black people?

6. Name two elements of what Oluo calls “white-centered education” (104).

7. How does Oluo define the school-to-prison pipeline?

8. What is the real problem with the model minority myth, according to Oluo?

9. What is the goal of affirmative action?

10. What are a few ways that readers can fight against the model minority myth?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Oluo’s use of metaphor, simile, imagery, and other literary devices as a means to send particular thematic messages within the text of So You Want to Talk About Race.

Essay Topic 2

How is the topic of fear treated within So You Want to Talk About Race and how does its treatment relate to the book's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Oluo's choice to present the text of So You Want to Talk About Race using the first person point-of-view. What elements of the book's themes and Uluo’s voice lend themselves to this choice and what are Oluo’s intended effects on the reader?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,053 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample