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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through “The American Exception” .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Despite a pandemic’s ability to discriminate, says Smith, the structure of American hierarchy meant that which groups experience higher death rates?
(a) Asians and Latinos.
(b) Blacks and whites.
(c) Blacks and Latinos.
(d) Whites and Asians.

2. What is the setting at the start of “Peonies”?
(a) The Manhattan Garden.
(b) Jefferson Market Garden.
(c) The New York Botanical Gardens.
(d) The Brooklyn Gardens.

3. Who does Smith say are patronized by people of all ages?
(a) Young men.
(b) Older women.
(c) Kids.
(d) Old men.

4. What does Smith say a man can bend to his will?
(a) Rules.
(b) Steel pipes.
(c) Nature.
(d) Religion.

5. In “The American Exception,” Smith says that the poorer countries Trump condemned did not have the foresight to be what?
(a) Sweden.
(b) America.
(c) Europe.
(d) Iceland.

Short Answer Questions

1. What song does Smith reflect on how the lyrics would change if it were written for a man?

2. What “obsession” (6) does Smith liken to her resistance to nature as a youth, an obsessions she says many writers share?

3. Smith says that despite America’s feelings of being untouchable, as the pandemic progressed, what did America appear to lead the world in?

4. At which point does Smith say a man submits to nature?

5. The day Smith looked at the peonies in the Jefferson Market Garden was just a few days before what Smith refers to as what?

(see the answer key)

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