View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "The Site of Memory," Morrison remarks on the absence of what in slave narratives?
(a) Details of everyday life on the plantations.
(b) Historical accuracy.
(c) Sophisticated use of language.
(d) Depictions of the narrator's interior life.

2. In "Goodbye to All That," Morrison uses examples of literary partings between Black and white women to demonstrate what?
(a) Over time, the Black women in these pairings are portrayed as more fully realized human beings.
(b) Not much progress has been made in literary depictions of race relations.
(c) Male writers consistently miss what is most important in relationships between women.
(d) White writers are not able to convincingly portray Black women.

3. In "Academic Whispers," Morrison compares African American literature to what?
(a) A child who has been locked out of his own house.
(b) A horse pulling a carriage for its wealthy master.
(c) A "field hand" tending crops he does not own.
(d) A "houseboy," ushering guests into a party he is not invited to.

4. In "Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison says that early scholarship on creating a canon of Black art tended to focus on what?
(a) Nation building.
(b) Cross-genre analysis.
(c) Assimilation.
(d) The Western cultural aesthetic.

5. Morrison began Beloved after seeing what?
(a) Her father in the hospital.
(b) A newspaper clipping.
(c) An argument between her mother and one of her friends.
(d) The arrest of a Black girl.

Short Answer Questions

1. In her "James Baldwin Eulogy," Morrison makes an allusion to what Biblical story?

2. Who was James Baldwin?

3. In "Hard, True, and Lasting," Morrison says that she can tolerate being alienated from the dominant culture because she knows what?

4. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison says that she sees a reflection of African-American cultural traditions in what form of literature?

5. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison calls the "merging of forms" one of the key aspects of what literary movement?

Short Essay Questions

1. In “Unspeakable Things Unspoken," who does Morrison credit with opening up the canon, and how would she like to see it further expanded?

2. In “Unspeakable Things Unspoken," what does Morrison say she is trying to evoke with the image of nightshade in the beginning of Sula?

3. In “The Site of Memory," what reasons does Morrison give for finding her inclusion in an anthology about memoir to be both strange and appropriate?

4. In “Introduction of Peter Sellars," what are the main points of Morrison's praise for Peter Sellars as an artist?

5. In “Rememory," Morrison describes her writing process using memory and explains how it is similar to a thematic and narrative element in one of her books. What is her process, and which book's narrative does she see it reflected in.

6. In “James Baldwin Eulogy,” Morrison explains that Baldwin brought "three gifts." What is this an allusion to, and how does it function in this piece?

7. In “Academic Whispers," what does Morrison say used to annoy her about being asked to speak about racism?

8. According to “The Writer Before the Page," what is the relationship between Hannah Peace and Sula?

9. In “The Source of Self-Regard," what does Morrison describe as some of the contradictions that jazz contains?

10. In “Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison praises Bearden's work as a dialogue between artists; how does she see his work impacting her own?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,023 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample