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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Sadness.
(b) Fertility.
(c) Opportunity.
(d) Holiness.

2. 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 Latinos.
(c) Whites and Asians.
(d) Blacks and whites.

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

4. Smith says that despite America’s feelings of being untouchable, as the pandemic progressed, what did America appear to lead the world in?
(a) False positives.
(b) Unity.
(c) Deaths.
(d) Vaccines.

5. 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 did not get enough likes on social media.
(b) She could not stand Zoom meetings.
(c) She could not see her friends.
(d) She did not have access to the internet from home.

Short Answer Questions

1. What name does Smith say would better suit the writing department in which she works at the University in “Peonies”?

2. What flowers does Smith wish she was looking at instead of peonies?

3. What does Smith liken Trump’s speech to after coming to her senses after the first part of his speech?

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

5. In the conversation Smith overhears at a Subway shop, the two women discuss seeing a baby holding what item?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Smith say that artists learned in regards to privacy and time at the start of “Suffering Like Mel Gibson”?

2. What does Smith say about love in “Something to Do”?

3. What are some of the “special words....lurking on the horizon” (4) for women her age that Smith describes in “Peonies”?

4. What does Smith say about what disaster demands at the start of “The American Exception”?

5. Why does Smith say it was hard for Americans to fathom a plague?

6. How does Smith describe the similarity and difference between privilege and suffering in “Suffering Like Mel Gibson”?

7. Describe the moment Smith realized her own privilege in a Subway shop.

8. Describe the article Smith references in “Suffering Like Mel Gibson” about a 17-year-old during lockdown.

9. How does Smith describe the space typically occupied by artists?

10. In what ways does Smith say she tried to resist what she felt was the cage of her gender when she was younger?

(see the answer keys)

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