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. Kiese Laymon reports that it "was only after listening to ATLliens" that he realized where he needed to go as a human being and an artist. What did he decide he needed to do?
(a) Make music.
(b) Write fiction.
(c) Write memoirs.
(d) Be an emcee.

2. In what Jamaican city did Garnette Cadogan, the author of the essay "Black and Blue," grow up?
(a) Portmore.
(b) Kingston.
(c) Negril.
(d) Montego Bay.

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

4. What name did Kiese Laymon call his grandmother?
(a) Granny.
(b) Mama.
(c) Grandmama.
(d) Gran.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. For how many hours was Michael Brown's body left facedown in the street after being shot six times by police in Ferguson?

2. 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?

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

4. 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?

5. 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?

Short Essay Questions

1. What event does the author of "Composite Pops" name as the one that taught him that he must be able to save himself?

2. What two categories does Kevin Young say white thinking or acting out about being black almost always fall into and what example does he give for each category he names?

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

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

5. What is People's Justice and what is the organization's goal?

6. What does Kevin Young identify as the main problem with Rachel Dolezal's claim of African ancestry?

7. How does Emily Raboteau say she wishes to distinguish her role as a mother from both types of mothers depicted in the widely-circulated comic entitled "Still Two Americas"?

8. 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?

9. What does the author of "Composite Pops" say that a boy must do if he is "not blessed with a father or gifted with a dynamic stand-in" (180)?

10. Why does Garnette Cadogan hold out hope that he will not encounter the same problems while walking in New York City that he had while walking in New Orleans?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,403 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample