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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In “Suffering Like Mel Gibson” Smith discusses an article she read about a 17-year-old who committed suicide during the pandemic for what reason?
(a) She could not stand Zoom meetings.
(b) She could not see her friends.
(c) She did not get enough likes on social media.
(d) She did not have access to the internet from home.

2. Which actor is in the director’s chair talking to Jesus in the meme someone sent Smith at the start of the pandemic?
(a) Tom Hanks.
(b) Burt Reynolds.
(c) Michael Douglass.
(d) Mel Gibson.

3. 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) Married couples with children.
(d) Dating couples.

4. In “Something to Do,” Smith says that without love life can seem what?
(a) Dark and depressing.
(b) Empty and endless.
(c) Comical.
(d) Tragic.

5. What is the topic of conversation Smith overhears between two woman at a Subway shop in “Suffering Like Mel Gibson”?
(a) Technology and children.
(b) Feminism.
(c) The economy.
(d) Higher Education.

6. What does Smith say the link to long life in America is?
(a) Healthy eating habits.
(b) Good luck.
(c) Money.
(d) Exercise.

7. What example does Smith use in “Peonies” as a time when submitting might be better than resisting?
(a) Torture.
(b) When your alarm clock goes off.
(c) Peer pressure.
(d) Disease.

8. What does Smith say “demanded a new dawn” (11)?
(a) Disaster.
(b) Women.
(c) Night.
(d) Americans.

9. In “Suffering Like Mel Gibson” Smith says that class can alter what?
(a) The number of cars you own.
(b) Your conception of reality.
(c) Your taste in clothes.
(d) Your level of empathy.

10. What term does Smith reference in “The American Exception” which Trump used in reference to other countries he saw as inferior?
(a) "Crappy countries."
(b) "Lowlife countries."
(c) "Unimportant countries."
(d) "Shithole countries."

11. As Smith stares into the garden of peonies near two other women her age, Smiths comments of what “gaudy symbol,” the flowers represent, “in the middle of a barren concrete metropolis” (3)?
(a) Fertility.
(b) Opportunity.
(c) Holiness.
(d) Sadness.

12. At which point does Smith say a man submits to nature?
(a) In private.
(b) In old age.
(c) In death.
(d) At birth.

13. The moment Smith realized that she had misunderstood the conversation between the women in the Subway shop was the moment Smith says she became aware of her what?
(a) Isolation.
(b) Nosiness.
(c) Privilege.
(d) Hearing problems.

14. What does Smith say we were in a “long, involved cultural conversation” about prior to the pandemic?
(a) Universal Healthcare.
(b) Free public universities.
(c) Privilege.
(d) Gender inequality.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Smith say we had before the pandemic instead of death?

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

3. After the pandemic, Smith says we must modify our new knowledge of privilege to involve what new category?

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

5. Which president’s speech does Smith cite at the start of “The American Exception”?

(see the answer keys)

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