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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Kiese Laymon invites his grandmother up to Oxford where he lives at the time, why does she refuse to come?
(a) Because there is a music festival happening in her hometown.
(b) Because she does not like to infringe upon Kiese's privacy.
(c) Because her health is too poor for such a long trip.
(d) Because Kiese is the only black person she knows in Oxford.

2. How many of Mitchell Jackson's father figures were biologically related to him?
(a) Two.
(b) Zero.
(c) Four.
(d) Six.

3. 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) Wild animals.
(b) Police.
(c) Criminals.
(d) Weather.

4. The series of Know Your Rights murals were commissioned by a coalition of grassroots organizations called People's Justice for Community Control and what?
(a) Freedom of Movement.
(b) Public Safety.
(c) Prosperity.
(d) Police Accountability.

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 smile and soul.
(b) Her funk and business sense.
(c) Her light and heat.
(d) Her stank and freshness.

Short Answer Questions

1. After what meal did Kiese Laymon's grandmother make him take a teaspoon of cod liver oil whenever he stayed with her?

2. What was the first OutKast album Kiese Laymon ever heard?

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How is paradox employed within the poem "Queries of Unrest" and to what effect?

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

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

7. 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?

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

9. At the start of the essay "The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning," why do the two women talking about one's recent arrival of a son laugh when the new mother says her first thought had been how she could get her baby boy out of America?

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

(see the answer keys)

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