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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through “Screengrabs,” “A Man with Strong Hands,” “A Character in a Wheelchair in a Vestibule.” .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which president’s speech does Smith cite at the start of “The American Exception”?
(a) Joe Biden.
(b) Bill Clinton.
(c) Donald Trump.
(d) Barack Obama.

2. Though private interests play a role in the lives of many Americans, what private interest does Smith say should not be one of them?
(a) Social security.
(b) The Postal system.
(c) Healthcare.
(d) Education.

3. What does Smith say we had before the pandemic instead of death?
(a) The flu.
(b) Immortality.
(c) Universal healthcare.
(d) Casualties and victims.

4. While looking on at the garden, Smith thinks of a quote by Nabokov regarding his inspiration for which novel?
(a) Mary.
(b) Lolita.
(c) Glory.
(d) Laura.

5. What is the title of the first short essay in “Screengrabs”?
(a) My Masseuse.
(b) A Man with Strong Hands.
(c) Ben.
(d) A Writer’s Life.

Short Answer Questions

1. Smith thinks that one reason Americans cannot fathom plagues is because they do not discriminate based on what?

2. What is one of the social issues Smith said that pandemic forced many to have to face in her essay “Something to Do”?

3. In “The American Exception,” Smith says that Americans attacked death as a series of what?

4. Which type of person does Smith describe as being shuffled “from one isolation to another and back again” (30)?

5. What does Trump say we did not have prior to the pandemic, which Smith agrees?

(see the answer key)

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