A Different Mirror

Multiple Choice and Long Answer questions create ideal opportunities for whole-book review, unit exam, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. In Takaki’s recounting of European settlement of the “New World” in Part 1, what does he cite as the main reason why Vikings eventually abandoned their settlement in Newfoundland and returned to Greenland?

A) The possibility of warfare with Indigenous populations    

B) They missed their homeland, particularly their close social ties with family.

C) They heard rumors of riches and other opportunities in the Middle East.

D)They found the climate hostile and uninviting.

2. In the early 1600s, Takaki writes of how Indigenous populations suffered at the hands of European settlers for two main reasons: because they were dispossessed of their territory and also for which of the following?

A) Stolen cultural Indigenous artifacts    

B) Taunting and the disparaging of Indigenous social conventions    

C) Sickness from new diseases, like smallpox    

D) The sterilization of Indigenous men and women of a child-bearing age    

3. According to Takaki, how does Caliban’s representation in The Tempest reinforce contemporary notions of ethnic minorities?

A) Caliban is depicted as possessing frightening demonic powers.

B) Caliban speaks only in riddles and falsehoods.

C) Caliban is described as deceitful, dark, and foul.

D) Caliban speaks English, but with a heavy foreign accent.

4.With preliterate societies, Takaki notes that it is often the case that their history will be told by what general group?

A) Elders

B) Conquerors

C) Clergy

D) Artists

5. Andrew Jackson would often deploy figurative framing language to have his violent actions against Indigenous populations be seen as a “civilizing” mission marching toward “progress.” What sort of imagery would this language typically evoke?

A) Religious images of a god-like figure

B) Paternalistic images of a father figure

C) Christian images of a Jesus-like figure

D) Presidential images of leader-like figure

6. Why did white southerners tend to think of their slaves as “childlike, irresponsible, affectionate, and happy”?      

A) To heap further insults on the enslaved population and lower morale    

B) To fulfill, in their mind, the biblical prophecy of slavery in America    

C) To convince themselves that the institution of slavery was secure    

D) To show the human dignity of their enslaved labor force      

7. Why does Takaki credit Martin Delany as “the Father of Black Nationalism”?

A) He encouraged radical assimilation into white American culture.

B) He encouraged growing Black political power in local government.

C) He advocated for a new Black state within the United States of America.

D) He advocated for Black emigration to Africa to escape white oppression.

8. In the 1840s, why did Ireland continue shipping grain and livestock to England, even as its own people starved and died as a result of the potato blight?

A) Because the Irish people did not want to eat bread or meat    

B) Because England was suffering even worse at the time

C) Because Irish women were gaining economic self-sufficiency

D) Because the English owned most of the Irish farmland

9. What did the Chinese Exclusionary Act of 1882 stipulate?

A) It prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the United States for 10 years and denied any possibility of naturalized citizenship.

B)  It prohibited Chinese laborers from working in certain industries (namely, finance and publishing).

C) It prohibited Chinese laborers from partaking in special tax benefits that benefited other workers.

D) It prohibited Chinese laborers from living and working in certain—usually wealthy, usually white—neighborhoods.

10. Why did the Navajo reject the Indian Reorganization Act, designed by John Collier in an attempt to secure autonomy for native tribes?      

A) Like other agreements, this Act was yet another set of empty promises.      

B) Though attempting to help, Collier failed to listen to the Navajo’s wishes.    

C) Agreeing to this act would cause new war with neighboring tribes.    

D) The Navajo were a war-like tribe who denied all treaties with the American government.    

11. As described in Chapter 10, what are two contributions Japanese immigrants made to American culture in the early decades of the 20th century?      

A) Peach and cantaloupe farming in rural Georgia      

B) Sheep farming in Texas and advanced industrial skills    

C) Hawaiian Pidgin English and produce farming in California

D) Cherry farming and public education in the Pacific Northwest      

12. In 1920s New York City, what Manhattan neighborhood was the center of Black housing, as it attracted a large number of African Americans who could not afford to live elsewhere?

A) Washington Heights

B) Harlem

C) The Upper West Side

D) The Upper East Side

13. During World War II, large numbers of women from what two minority groups comprised a large portion of the labor force working on the assembly lines as riveters?

A) Mexican American and African American women

B) Mexican American and Chinese American women

C) Chinese American and Japanese American women

D) African American and Japanese American women

14. Which of the following is NOT an example of the grassroot strategies used to desegregate the South during the Civil Rights Movement, mentioned by Takaki in Chapter 15?

A) The bus boycotts

B) The lunch counter sit-ins

C) The Freedom Rides

D) The founding of the Black Panthers

15. Which US President invited Takaki to help write a speech entitled “One America in the Twenty-First Century: The President’s Initiative on Race”?

A) President Ronald Reagan

B) President Bill Clinton

C) President George H. W. Bush

D) President Jimmy Carter

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How would Takaki define “cultural pluralism”? How does Takaki support this definition throughout the text?

2. In Takaki’s Tempest allegory of the “civilized” and the “savage,” what do Caliban and Prospero respectively represent? Explain the representation of both characters with no less than one sentence for each, and be sure to explain what these early representations reveal about the dominant European mindset at the time.