View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Eight.
(b) Four.
(c) Ten.
(d) Five.

2. When discussing the murders at Emanuel Methodist Church, the author of "The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning" states, "But Dylann Storm Roof did not create himself from" (146) what element?
(a) From God's image.
(b) From the foundation of a strong upbringing.
(c) From a place of understanding.
(d) From nothing.

3. To which book of the Bible does the OutKast song "Da Art of Storytellin' (Pt. 2)" refer?
(a) Genesis.
(b) Psalms.
(c) Revelations.
(d) Job.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. At what type of factory did Kiese Laymon's grandmother work for 30 years?

2. 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?

3. What does Kevin Young say in his essay "Blacker Than Thou" that "you have to do...with white people from time to time" (105)?

4. What adverb is repeated 14 times within the poem "Queries of Unrest"?

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?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kevin Young insert "[name withheld]" rather than naming the killer responsible for the murders in Charleston?

2. What distinction does Kiese Laymon make between "stank" and "freshness" (118) in his essay "Da Art of Storytellin' (A Prequel)"?

3. What does Kevin Young write is one of the best things about being black?

4. In what ways did Kiese Laymon feel validated and inspired by the words of Andre 3000 at the Source Awards of 1995?

5. Name at least three actions that the author of "Composite Pops" attributes to all of the men he describes as Pops, his composite father.

6. How does Kevin Young, the author of the essay "Blacker Than Thou" support his point that similarities and solidarity among black people are more about culture than about physical appearances?

7. What contrast does the author of "Black and Blue" set up by using a quote from Fats Waller and a quote by Walt Whitman prior to the body of his essay?

8. Who does Claudia Rankine name as the person who created "a new pathway for how to think about a lynched body" (147) and what does she mean?

9. What details does Kiese Laymon use in order to depict his grandmother's identity to the reader?

10. What was the object mentioned in the very first lines of OutKast's music first heard by Kiese Laymon and why did the object's mention draw him in?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,506 words (approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample