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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. Which type of person does Smith say was overjoyed with the new free time at the start of the pandemic?
(a) People living alone in city apartments.
(b) Artists with children.
(c) Children of artists.
(d) Artists without children.

2. What date was the speech Smith references at the start of “The American Exception”?
(a) 2020.
(b) 2018.
(c) 2021.
(d) 2019.

3. Who were the few people, according to Smith, who did not have to “seek out something to do” during the pandemic?
(a) Painters.
(b) Writers.
(c) Gamers.
(d) Essential workers.

4. At the end of “A Hovering Young Man,” Smith insists that style is all that young people have and says that this style has been what?
(a) Drastically changed.
(b) Radically interrupted.
(c) Meticulously perfected.
(d) Manipulated.

5. What is the title of the third story in Zadie Smith’s collection, Intimations?
(a) How to fill time during a pandemic.
(b) Something to Do.
(c) Something to Say.
(d) Something to write.

Short Answer Questions

1. What former British Prime Minister does Smith reference at the end of “The American Exception”?

2. What example does Smith use in “Peonies” as a time when submitting might be better than resisting?

3. What are some of the topics Smith and her mother discuss during the pandemic lockdown?

4. What is the setting at the start of “Peonies”?

5. Though private interests play a role in the lives of many Americans, what private interest does Smith say should not be one of them?

(see the answer key)

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