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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through “Suffering Like Mel Gibson” .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Smith refers to the space of time that artists usually occupy as a “charming but useless” what?
(a) Playpen.
(b) Reality.
(c) Existence.
(d) Playground.

2. What flowers does Smith wish she was looking at instead of peonies?
(a) Lupines.
(b) Daffodils.
(c) Tulips.
(d) Roses.

3. In “The American Exception,” Smith says that nobody in 1945 wanted to go back to 1939 unless it was to do what?
(a) Be younger.
(b) Change the course of history.
(c) Resurrect the dead.
(d) Vote for a different leader.

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

5. At the start of “Suffering Like Mel Gibson,” which type of person does Smith say dreamed of an “isolation within isolation” (29) at the start of the pandemic?
(a) Grandparents.
(b) Roommates.
(c) Dating couples.
(d) Married couples with children.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. While looking on at the garden, Smith thinks of a quote by Nabokov regarding his inspiration for which novel?

3. What is the topic of conversation Smith overhears between two woman at a Subway shop in “Suffering Like Mel Gibson”?

4. What is the title of the fourth essay is Zadie Smith’s collection Intimations?

5. In “Something to Do,” Smith says that without love life can seem what?

(see the answer key)

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