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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The authors writes in "Down at the Cross," "Yes, it does indeed mean something - something unspeakable - to be born, in a white country, and Anglo-Teutonic, antisexual country, black. You very soon, without knowing it, give up all hope of" what?
(a) "Communication."
(b) "Redemption."
(c) "Inflation."
(d) "Communion."

2. What does the author describe feeling guilty about having in his pocket when he visited Elijah Muhammad in "Down at the Cross"?
(a) A notepad.
(b) A tape recorder.
(c) Cigarettes.
(d) A flask of whiskey.

3. When did Rudyard Kipling live?
(a) 1865-1936.
(b) 1798-1856.
(c) 1899-1959.
(d) 1802-1880.

4. What kind of athletic career does the author describe pursuing but not succeeding at in "Down at the Cross"?
(a) Baseball.
(b) Prize-fighting.
(c) Football.
(d) Basketball.

5. The author states in "Down at the Cross" that the "principles governing the rites and customs of the churches in which I grew up did not differ from the principles governing the rites and customs of other chuches, white. The principles were Blindness, Lonelines, and" what?
(a) "Love."
(b) "Faith."
(c) "Terror."
(d) "Sorrow."

Short Answer Questions

1. After the confrontation at the bar, the author says that one of his companions, a Korean War veteran, said that the bar had been the white man's fight too. How did the white man respond?

2. Whom does the author describe as having stated that "the cry of 'violence' was not raised... when the Israelis fought to regain Israel, and, indeed, is raised only when black men indicate that they will fight for their rights"?

3. What word from "Down at the Cross" refers to a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument?

4. What does the author describe school revealing itself to be to the black community passing through adolescence in "Down at the Cross"?

5. What word from "Down at the Cross" means impossible to stop or prevent?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author describe the setting of Elijah Muhammad's home in "Down at the Cross"?

2. How does the author compare his involvement in ministry with the thugs on the Avenue in "Down at the Cross"?

3. How does the author describe his religious faith to Elijah Muhammad in "Down at the Cross"?

4. What differences does the author point out between Christianity and Islam in the second section of "Down at the Cross"?

5. What does the author remark about the Holocaust in "Down at the Cross"?

6. How does the author perceive the expression of pain and suffering of blacks through Christianity?

7. In the second section of "Down at the Cross," the author points out many reasons that American society is not healed in relation to race. How does he propose it might become healed?

8. What is the source of the author's anger and resentment toward his father?

9. How does the author describe his departure from Elijah Muhammad's home in "Down at the Cross"?

10. How would you describe the author's sense of anger in the beginning of "Down at the Cross"?

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