View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 28: I Am the Elephant - Chapter 36: The Dominant White Culture.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In which U.S. state did an ancestor of Irving's establish New Salem Academy by applying for a land grant?
(a) Maine.
(b) California.
(c) Ohio.
(d) Florida.

2. Irving describes growing up in an affluent suburb of which American city?
(a) San Francisco.
(b) Philadelphia.
(c) Boston.
(d) New York City.

3. What was the last name of Irving's ancestor who established New Salem Academy by applying for a land grant?
(a) White.
(b) O'Neill.
(c) Putnam.
(d) Stevens.

4. Irving states that American culture and government have always rejected the idea of America as what object?
(a) A city on a hill.
(b) A melting pot.
(c) A mosaic.
(d) A utopia.

5. Irving states in Chapter 7: The GI BIll that "In the end, a mere" how many "percent of black GIs were able to access the bill's offer of free education" (46)?
(a) 4.
(b) 18.
(c) 12.
(d) 21.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which member of Irving's family is featured most prominently within the events of the memoir's first chapter?

2. How many years into her "waking-up process" (199) did Irving have the experience of seeing her appearance differently?

3. What term is used to describe the rule in which people of mixed races in America are assigned the identity of the race considered inferior by the dominant white culture?

4. At what age did Irving graduate from college, effectively ending the unexamined part of her life?

5. How old was Irving when she demanded to know why her 19-year-old sister Diane was not being allowed to see the film A Patch of Blue?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 242 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample