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. How does Gilroy characterize the relation that binds the master race to the slave race?

2. How does Gilroy characterize the slaves' literacy?

3. What language does Gilroy say sometimes dominates the language of racial emancipation in black music?

4. Whose consciousness is Black Atlantic focused on?

5. What effect do international corporations have on black musical styles in Gilroy's opinion?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Martin Robison Delany important to Gilroy?

2. What role should slavery play in the history of Western culture in Gilroy's opinion?

3. What is the master-slave dialectic?

4. How does the language of sexuality distract people from their racial identity in Gilroy's account?

5. What value does Gilroy say the language of ethnic opposition has for those who use it?

6. What does Gilroy say British audiences expected from Jimi Hendrix?

7. What group does Gilroy say his book focuses on?

8. How does the uniqueness of the black Atlantic experience affect views of race according to Gilroy?

9. How does Gilroy propose the concept of the black Atlantic should be used?

10. Why is it odd, in Gilroy's opinion, that debates over modernity have ignored music?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a character sketch of the author based on the style and content of his writing. What values does he hold dear? What are his hopes and fears? What kind of person do you think he is? Anchor your sketch in passages in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Black intellectuals have often encountered the difficulty that on one hand they need to show their learning, to prove their legitimacy to white intellectuals, but on the other, too much intellectualism is supposed to alienate them from their blackness. How does Gilroy navigate this treacherous water?

Essay Topic 3

Who are Gilroy's opponents, and what are their views? How is Gilroy's book a form of resistance to their ideas? What are the stakes these intellectuals are contesting, and how do they hope to win them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 784 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample