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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 OutKast album Kiese Laymon ever heard?
(a) AtLliens.
(b) Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.
(c) Stankonia.
(d) Aquemini.

2. How many men does Mitchell Jackson name as belonging to his group of father figures?
(a) Five.
(b) Four.
(c) Seven.
(d) Six.

3. Kevin Young begins his essay "Blacker Than Thou" by discussing which movie in which Steve Martin plays the lead role?
(a) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
(b) The Three Amigos.
(c) The Pink Panther.
(d) The Jerk.

4. What belief did Kiese Laymon's grandmother hold that he points to as the only reason he is alive?
(a) Her belief that hard work could cure any ill.
(b) Her belief that what does not kill us makes us stronger.
(c) Her belief that he could grow up to be anyone he wanted.
(d) Her belief that Kiese was a beautiful Southern black boy.

5. When Kevin Young states that being black is not a feeling and is not "simply a state of mind" (109), what does he say blackness is instead?
(a) A way of acting.
(b) A way of being.
(c) A way of believing.
(d) A way of living.

6. When the author and her friend laugh at the immediate thought of getting one's child out of the country upon his birth, what is NOT named as one of the sources of their laughter?
(a) Vulnerability.
(b) Mirth.
(c) Fear.
(d) An absurd stuckness.

7. For the completion of what task did Kiese Laymon's grandmother used to stay up late on Saturday nights?
(a) Doing the laundry.
(b) Washing the kitchen floors.
(c) Studying for her exams.
(d) Sewing her own clothes.

8. Which black female artist's work does Kiese Laymon set up as a counterpoint to the work of OutKast?
(a) Missy Elliott.
(b) Lauryn Hill.
(c) Jill Scott.
(d) Queen Latifah.

9. In what country did Rachel Dolezal falsely claim to have lived?
(a) Nigeria.
(b) Zimbabwe.
(c) South Africa.
(d) Jordan.

10. What tragic event had occurred the week before Emily Raboteau took her family on a walk over The High Bridge?
(a) The church massacre in Charleston.
(b) Tamir Rice's murder.
(c) The Columbine shootings.
(d) Michael Brown's murder.

11. To what danger is the author of the essay "Black and Blue" referring when he writes, "The streets had their own safety. Unlike at home, there I could be myself without fear of bodily harm" (130)?
(a) His brother's physical abuse.
(b) His stepfather's physical abuse.
(c) His mother's physical abuse.
(d) His grandmother's physical abuse.

12. How does the author of "The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning" characterize the attempt by some white people to amend the language of the Black Lives Matter movement to All Lives Matter?
(a) Ethnocentrism personified.
(b) Centralizing whiteness.
(c) Unintentional ignorance.
(d) Subliminal racism.

13. From the deaths of Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice, how many indictments were handed down?
(a) Three.
(b) One.
(c) Zero.
(d) Two.

14. When Kevin Young, the author of "Blacker Than Thou" outlines his next book for the reader, under what type of text does he say his new book falls?
(a) Satire.
(b) Poetry.
(c) Nonfiction.
(d) Memoir.

15. To what city did the author of "Black and Blue" move in 1996 in order to attend college?
(a) Orlando.
(b) Austin.
(c) New Orleans.
(d) Memphis.

Short Answer Questions

1. At what university did Kevin Young teach for five years?

2. What musician does Kevin Young name as the most prominent example of a white person living as a black person?

3. How old was Tamir Rice at the time he was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers?

4. The final line of the poem "Queries of Unrest" references "trying to save them the time of" doing what "to darkness when all they have to do is close their eyes" (100)?

5. When Kiese Laymon was busy analyzing the Outkast song "Wailin'," what was he supposed to be doing instead?

(see the answer keys)

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