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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What emotion does Jesmyn Ward say she feels when she looks at the works collected in The Fire This Time?
(a) Sadness.
(b) Dismay.
(c) Courage.
(d) Hope.

2. In the poem "Homegoing, AD" by Kima Jones, what kind of state does the narrator say she found out North Carolina is?
(a) Wide.
(b) Flat.
(c) Long.
(d) Dry.

3. The author of "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" states that most of the information about Phillis Wheatley comes from a book published how many years after the poet's death?
(a) 75.
(b) 50.
(c) 15.
(d) 25.

4. What topic is NOT listed among the issues that the author of "Lonely in America" feels unable to fixate upon in order to dispel her sense of loneliness?
(a) Racism.
(b) Poverty.
(c) The failures of the federal government.
(d) Friendship.

5. A 2013 report by researchers at Brandeis University calculated that what fraction "of the collective wealth of African-American families was stripped away" (86) during the Great Recession?
(a) 1/4.
(b) 3/4.
(c) 2/3.
(d) 1/2.

6. What type of internship had the author of "The Weight" been completing when he had first fallen wholly in the love with James Baldwin's works?
(a) A reporting internship.
(b) A professorial internship.
(c) A publishing internship.
(d) A carpentry internship.

7. What finding in the results of Jesmyn Ward's genetic testing results shocked her?
(a) Her ancestry is 68% European.
(b) Her ancestry is only 33% African.
(c) Her ancestry is 42% Native American.
(d) Her ancestry is over 70% African.

8. How many hours does the road trip described in "Homegoing, AD" by Kima Jones last?
(a) 14.
(b) 12.
(c) 20.
(d) 16.

9. What other types of work had the editor published before curating The Fire This Time?
(a) Newspaper articles and novels.
(b) Novels and memoirs.
(c) Poetry and short stories.
(d) Novels and short stories.

10. In a letter from Phillis Wheatley to the artist Obour Tanner, Wheatley relates the death of her mistress, saying that her mistress had treated her less like a "servant" (67) and more like a what?
(a) An employee.
(b) A sister.
(c) A child.
(d) A friend.

11. What is the occasion bringing everyone together within the poem "Homegoing, A.D. by Kima Jones?
(a) A funeral.
(b) A wedding.
(c) A birth.
(d) A wedding anniversary.

12. What is the name of the era in which African-Americans made leaps in advancement just after the end of slavery?
(a) Reconstruction.
(b) Renaissance.
(c) Restoration.
(d) Revitalization.

13. What kind of trees does the speaker of the poem "Homegoing, AD" by Kima Jones see that let her know they are close to their destination?
(a) Palm trees.
(b) Magnolia trees.
(c) Palmetto trees.
(d) Apple trees.

14. The self-help book that the author of "Lonely in America" tries to live by within the essay says that "to become free of disappointment, one must acknowledge the obvious, then" (37) do what?
(a) Learn to live with it.
(b) Forget about it.
(c) Become familiar with its underpinnings..
(d) Embrace it.

15. What was the name of Phillis Wheatley's husband, who is being defended in the essay "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband"?
(a) John Peters.
(b) Jacob Wheatley.
(c) James Jackson.
(d) John Wheatley.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which family member's house in New Orleans had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and was subsequently visited by the author of "Lonely in America"?

2. What was the first name of Phillis Wheatley's mistress?

3. What is the name of the police officer who shot Trayvon Martin?

4. What emotion does Jesmyn Ward say is directed toward her by the majority of Americans and has become her dark twin?

5. To what area of the United States does the author of "Lonely in America" say that her "cultural memory of slavery" is relegated?

(see the answer keys)

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