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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Chapter 5: Within the Walls asks readers to reconsider the definition of which term?
(a) Privilege.
(b) Exclusive.
(c) Poverty.
(d) Rich.

3. Kenneth Cushner's illustration of culture as an iceberg states that what percentage of culture is visible?
(a) 10.
(b) 40.
(c) 60.
(d) 20.

4. By what decade had "pale skin become a beauty ideal for white people, making its way into European art and literature" (57)?
(a) The 1860s.
(b) The 1790s.
(c) The 1720s.
(d) The 1920s.

5. Irving states that skin color symbolism plus favoritism plus power equals which element?
(a) Sexism.
(b) Systemic racism.
(c) Inequity.
(d) Privilege.

6. Who wrote the maxim, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" (114)?
(a) Noel Coward.
(b) Anne Bradstreet.
(c) Edmund Spenser.
(d) Edmund Burke.

7. What was the first name of the woman who established New Salem Academy through the acquisition of a land grant?
(a) Martha.
(b) Mabel.
(c) Lydia.
(d) Mary.

8. In Chapter 6: From Confusion to Shock, Irving describes moving to the city of Cambridge in which state after college?
(a) Massachusetts.
(b) Virginia.
(c) New Mexico.
(d) California.

9. What sort of literary device does Irving use to stress the verbs "avoid" and "perpetuate" in relation to the "zap factor" (92)?
(a) Allusion.
(b) Repetition.
(c) Onomatopoeia.
(d) Simile.

10. What was the name of the film from which Irving learned about the GI Bill?
(a) Race: The Power of a Culture.
(b) Race: The Power of a Dream.
(c) Race: The Power of a Community.
(d) Race: The Power of an Illusion.

11. In Chapter 15: The Whole Story, Irving warns the reader of the dangers associated with what types of stories?
(a) One-sided.
(b) Fictional.
(c) Ancient.
(d) Second-hand.

12. The activity at the end of Chapter 4: Optimism asks the reader to think about "major economic, political, demographic, and pop culture trends" (35) that occurred how many years before their birth, through the age of 20?
(a) 20.
(b) 10.
(c) 5.
(d) 15.

13. Irving asserts that American culture and government have always embraced the idea of America as what object?
(a) A melting pot.
(b) A black hole.
(c) A city on a hill.
(d) A mosaic.

14. Around how many Indian boarding schools at one time existed in the United States, all inspired by the Carlisle School?
(a) 3,000.
(b) 150.
(c) 250.
(d) 1,000.

15. What is the topic of the activity presented at the end of Chapter 1: What Wasn't Said?
(a) Privilege.
(b) Denial.
(c) Stereotypes.
(d) Microaggressions.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what year did Dr. McIntosh write an essay called "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" (86)?

2. How many different categories does Betsy Leondar-Wright identify when she provides "a way of thinking about class" (30)?

3. Which quality did Irving's father stress above all others throughout his children's childhoods?

4. Irving states that the theory of colorblindness maintains all but which of the following within American society?

5. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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