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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. The preschool Irving chose for her children required parents to pay how many dollars per year?

2. In Chapter 22: Why Do I Always End Up With White People?, Irving states that she was first introduced to the city of Cambridge in which year?

3. In Chapter 26: Surviving and Thriving, Irving describes Jane Elliott's experiments based around which element as a marker of status?

4. Irving describes the course about race she took at Wheelock as having what effect on her?

5. In which state did Irving attend an event advertised as being "by and for people of color" (141)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Irving first become familiar with the city of Cambridge and for how many years had she lived there at the time of her writing?

2. Who came to assist Irving after the conflict at the conference by and for people of color and how did they help?

3. In what way does Irving link the themes of oppression and brutality within Chapter 34: Becomiing Multicultural?

4. How did the magic step activity change Gerrard's behavior and why?

5. What major mistake does Irving consider herself to have made during her project meant to serve inner city youth?

6. What major goal discussed in Chapter 22: did it take Irving years to accomplish?

7. What events led up to the experience with the mirror Irving describes in Chapter 33: Perception and Fear?

8. In what way does the theme of isolation arise within Chapter 25: Belonging?

9. For how many years had Irving been associated with the preschool when she took a proactive step to address inequity? Why is this fact significant?

10. Explain the concept of dysfunctional rescuing.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Irving’s messages concerning the nature of optimism. Does the text indicate that it is dangerous or crucial? Choose one adjective and prove its validity using concrete details from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Irving's choice to construct the text of Waking Up White using events from her own life as catalysts for discussion. What elements of the book's themes lend themselves to this choice and what are Irving’s intended effects on the reader?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that discusses the symbolism of the cover art chosen for Waking Up White.

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