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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To begin the essay "The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning," Claudia Rankine relates a story about a friend of hers who had just given birth to a baby boy and whose first thought upon his birth was how she could get him out of the country. This thought occurred to her even before she had performed what two actions?
(a) Potty trained him or weaned him.
(b) Checked out of the hospital or brought him home.
(c) Named him or nursed him.
(d) Painted the nursery or weaned him.

2. What author does the poem "Queries of Unrest" reference in its dedication?
(a) James Baldwin.
(b) Walt Whitman.
(c) Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib.
(d) Langston Hughes.

3. 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 Kiese was a beautiful Southern black boy.
(c) Her belief that he could grow up to be anyone he wanted.
(d) Her belief that what does not kill us makes us stronger.

4. Though Mitchell Jackson's father lived no more than a bike ride away from his mother's home, for how many formative years of his life was Mitchell's father absent?
(a) Ten.
(b) Five.
(c) Four.
(d) Eight.

5. What two qualities of his grandmother's does Kiese Laymon say he did not understand or feel inspired by until he heard his first OutKast album?
(a) Her stank and freshness.
(b) Her light and heat.
(c) Her smile and soul.
(d) Her funk and business sense.

6. What song did President Barack Obama sing at the funeral for those killed in the Emanuel Mother Church massacre?
(a) Amazing Grace.
(b) Ave Maria.
(c) My Country 'Tis of Thee.
(d) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.

7. What was the first OutKast album Kiese Laymon ever heard?
(a) Stankonia.
(b) Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.
(c) AtLliens.
(d) Aquemini.

8. 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) An absurd stuckness.
(b) Fear.
(c) Vulnerability.
(d) Mirth.

9. When the author of the essay "Black and Blue" was warned by university officials to avoid walking in certain areas of the city, what threat does he mistakenly think he is being warned about?
(a) Police.
(b) Criminals.
(c) Wild animals.
(d) Weather.

10. When Kiese Laymon was busy analyzing the Outkast song "Wailin'," what was he supposed to be doing instead?
(a) Applying to graduate schools.
(b) Baking a rhubarb pie for his grandmother.
(c) Writing a paper about "The Cask of Amontillado."
(d) Applying for jobs.

11. How old was Tamir Rice at the time he was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers?
(a) 16.
(b) 20.
(c) 12.
(d) 18.

12. What does the author of "The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning" ultimately determine is the one feeling that the whole United States needs to share before racially-motivated police brutality can end?
(a) Grief.
(b) Rage.
(c) Fear.
(d) Sympathy.

13. Over what river does The High Bridge in New York City pass?
(a) The Hudson River.
(b) The East River.
(c) The Bronx River.
(d) The Harlem River.

14. What does Emily Raboteau say had been the primary goal of the perpetrator of the previous week's tragedy on the day her family walks over The High Bridge?
(a) Making a statement about bullying.
(b) Getting the police to shoot him.
(c) Igniting a race war.
(d) Driving black people back into segregation.

15. What musician does Kevin Young name as the most prominent example of a white person living as a black person?
(a) Rufus Wainwright.
(b) Bobby Darin.
(c) Little Richard.
(d) Johnny Otis.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. Who requested an open coffin for Emmett Till's funeral and granted permission for photographs of his mutilated, lynched body to be taken and published?

3. In addition to Andre 3000, who is the other member of OutKast?

4. The essay entitled "Black and Blue" takes its name from a song by what African-American musician?

5. What is the term used for a person's ability to be regarded as belonging to a different race, culture, or group different from their own?

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