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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer 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?

2. 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?

3. What tragic event had occurred the week before Emily Raboteau took her family on a walk over The High Bridge?

4. When Kiese Laymon states all of the things that the album ATLliens brought him to love about himself, what is an item that is NOT on his list?

5. Which black female artist's work does Kiese Laymon set up as a counterpoint to the work of OutKast?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

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

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

6. 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?

7. 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?

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

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Determine the most prominent message inherent in Emily Raboteau's essay, "Know Your Rights!" and prove your claim about her message using concrete details from the essay.

Essay Topic 2

Many different areas of the United States are discussed within the works included in The Fire This Time. Discuss the sense of place contained in three particular essays and how the discussion of the sense of place helps each author further his or her message regarding race in America.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Daniel Jose Older's purpose in choosing the form of a letter to write his piece "This Far: Notes on Love and Revolution." How does the form chosen serve to further his included messages and themes?

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