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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through “An Elder at the 98 Bus Stop,” “A Provocation in the Park,” “Post-script: Contempt as a Virus” .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At the end of “An Elder at the 98 Bus Stop,” what does Smith’s mother say lockdown is doing to people?
(a) Bringing them peace.
(b) Making them lazy.
(c) Driving them crazy.
(d) Slowing them down.

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

3. How does Smith describe the clientele of the nail salon she frequents?
(a) Snobby.
(b) Low-class and rude.
(c) Upscale and well-mannered.
(d) Loud and impolite.

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

5. What is the name of the young man Smith describes in “A Hovering Young Man”?
(a) Ty.
(b) Cy.
(c) Cal.
(d) Clyde.

Short Answer Questions

1. In “A Man With Strong Hands,” Smith’s masseur tells her that she never does what while getting a massage?

2. 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?

3. What is NOT one of the reasons Smith considers might be behind the sign she saw in Central Park?

4. In what city is Smith in in her story, “An Elder at the 98 Bus Stop”?

5. Though the “bubble” of privilege can be penetrated, what bubble does Smith say cannot be penetrated?

(see the answer key)

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