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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Bateson claim is the unifying thread of all the women she discusses in the book?
(a) They are all hopeless failures in life, despite having passion for their individual arts.
(b) They are all partners in highly successful marriages.
(c) They are all professionally successful and have wisdom to pass on.
(d) They have all faced frustration and difficult choices.

2. According to Mary, why did many women get married before the intellectual movement?
(a) Because women back then loved to have children.
(b) Because they had no other choice.
(c) Because the government cut taxes for married couples.
(d) Because society looked down on women workers.

3. According to Bateson, which of the following is NOT a necessary element to "nurture ideas and institutions"?
(a) Homebuilding.
(b) Finances.
(c) Relationship building.
(d) Caring.

4. What does it mean to "compose a life"?
(a) Understanding how individuals are shaped by their parents.
(b) Opening oneself up to the world.
(c) Forgetting history to embrace individualism and self-empowerment.
(d) Collecting pieces from the past to understand today.

5. Which of the following women most frequently collaborates with her husband on professional projects?
(a) Mary.
(b) Joan.
(c) Johnnetta.
(d) Ellen.

Short Answer Questions

1. What subject does Mary tackle with her metaphor of a "crazy quilt"?

2. Which of the following women is not married to her partner??

3. Which of Mary's grandparents was a scientist?

4. How does Bateson feel about using a recipe when cooking?

5. What type of flower was planted on Spelman's campus in preparation for the television shoot?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did travel affect Mary Bateson's relationship with her husband, Barkev?

2. What is significant about Johnnetta's physical appearance?

3. How did Johnnetta use her academic experience to change the definition of what it meant to live "as a black woman"?

4. How does Mary use the metaphor of a "crazy quilt" to explain society?

5. According to Bateson, what does it mean to have a symmetrical relationship?

6. According to Bateson, how is life like jazz music?

7. What conclusion does Mary come to about the success of relationships in academia?

8. What does it mean to Mary to live in "a life in flux", and how did this affect her choosing of which women would appear in the book?

9. What is the nature of Jack's relationship with Alice?

10. What is the most significant memory Alice has of her childhood in Rumania?

(see the answer keys)

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