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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Once the author of "The Weight" stopped reading James Baldwin's works in order to separate his own work from that of James Baldwin's, what is NOT one author he mentions reading voraciously?
(a) Bell hooks.
(b) Ralph Ellison.
(c) Sergei Dovlatov.
(d) Henry Dumas.

3. 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) Apple trees.
(b) Magnolia trees.
(c) Palmetto trees.
(d) Palm trees.

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

5. To what area of the United States does the author of "Lonely in America" say that her "cultural memory of slavery" is relegated?
(a) The West.
(b) The North.
(c) The South.
(d) The East.

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

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

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

9. A 2016 joint report by the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund states that the Republicans' plan to emphasize identification requirements would adversely affect how many African-American voters?
(a) Three million.
(b) Six million.
(c) Ten million.
(d) Eight million.

10. 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) 50.
(b) 75.
(c) 25.
(d) 15.

11. How often do historians say lynchings of African-Americans occurred in the early decades of the twentieth century?
(a) Every four days.
(b) Every week.
(c) Every month.
(d) Every day.

12. What company did Jesmyn Ward use in order to obtain a report of her genetic ancestry?
(a) National Geographic Genographic Project.
(b) 23andMe.
(c) Ancestry DNA.
(d) Living DNA.

13. 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) 1/2.
(b) 3/4.
(c) 2/3.
(d) 1/4.

14. What does the author of "'The Dear Pledges of Our Love'": A Defense of Phillis Wheatley's Husband" state was the demographic makeup of her school in the 1970s?
(a) 99% African-American.
(b) 99% Caucasian.
(c) 48% African American and 52% Caucasian.
(d) 23% African-American, 48% Caucasian, and 29% Native American.

15. What are the estimates regarding how often an African-American is now killed by police within the United States, circa 2018?
(a) Every 2-3 days.
(b) Every 5-8 days.
(c) Every day.
(d) Every 4-6 days.

Short Answer Questions

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

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?

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

4. In what year was Trayvon Martin killed by a police officer?

5. Whose original literary work inspired the title of The Fire This Time?

(see the answer keys)

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