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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the first name of Phillis Wheatley's mistress?
(a) Susannah.
(b) Clementine.
(c) Savannah.
(d) Melanie.

2. 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) Poverty.
(b) Friendship.
(c) The failures of the federal government.
(d) Racism.

3. At the end of her essay "Cracking the Code," Jesmyn Ward states that she imagines that a longing for what element had been a part of all of her ancestors' lives?
(a) The longing to be understood.
(b) The longing to belong.
(c) The longing for independence.
(d) The longing to be heard.

4. What major event happened upon Phillis Wheatley's return to America from London?
(a) She was freed.
(b) She found that her husband had died in her absence.
(c) She gave birth to her third child.
(d) She ran away from her master's home.

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

6. In what state was Trayvon Martin killed by a police officer?
(a) Tennessee.
(b) Alabama.
(c) Mississippi.
(d) Florida.

7. 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"?
(a) Uncle Chester.
(b) Aunt Lou.
(c) Grandmama.
(d) Great-aunt Louise.

8. What two adjectives does the author of the "The Weight" use to describe the whiteness of the magazine's offices?
(a) Stately and grand.
(b) Serene and sterile.
(c) Stark and futuristic.
(d) Blinding and sterile.

9. How old was Trayvon Martin at the time he was killed?
(a) 17.
(b) 19.
(c) 21.
(d) 15.

10. Besides Phillis Wheatley, at least how many other slaves did her master own during his lifetime?
(a) 12.
(b) 6.
(c) 2.
(d) 1.

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

12. Who was the author of Memoir and Poems of Phyllis Wheatley, a Native African and a Slave?
(a) Margaretta Matilda Odell.
(b) Jane Augusten Burroughs.
(c) Marie Ellen Magdalena.
(d) Mary Margaret Johann.

13. What is the title of Phillis Wheatley's most often-anthologized poem?
(a) "The Spider and the Fly."
(b) "Upon the Burning of Our House."
(c) "To My Dear and Loving Husband."
(d) "On Being Brought from Africa to America."

14. What is the name of the U.S. Senator who is famous for opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1957 "so strenuously that he conducted the longest lone filibuster ever" for over 24 straight hours?
(a) Benjamin Cardin.
(b) Strom Thurmond.
(c) Trent Lott.
(d) Thomas Carper.

15. In what social media platform did Jesmyn Ward find solace after Trayvon Martin's death?
(a) Snapchat.
(b) Twitter.
(c) Facebook.
(d) Foursquare.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. How often do historians say lynchings of African-Americans occurred in the early decades of the twentieth century?

3. For what ultimate purpose does the author of "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" start her search for primary sources regarding Phillis Wheatley's life?

4. In what city does the author of "The Weight" meet his friend in order to visit the house in which James Baldwin died?

5. In what city was an eighteenth century gravesite discovered that contained 13 people of African ancestry?

(see the answer keys)

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