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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. What did Smith have printed on a T-shirt when she first moved to NYC?
(a) University Nerd.
(b) Prof. Smith.
(c) Black Genius.
(d) Black Nerd.

2. Where does Barbara eat her croissant despite it being a place designated for other business?
(a) Inside a pub.
(b) Outside a different restaurant.
(c) In a schoolyard.
(d) Outside a hair salon.

3. What is the one “indulgence” (38) Smith says that she gets regularly in “A Man With Strong Hands”?
(a) Hot stone massage.
(b) Full body massage.
(c) Swedish massage.
(d) Chair massage.

4. Smith says that when it comes to certain crimes, we only wonder later if it has something to do with a feeling of hopeless what on the part of the criminal?
(a) Depression.
(b) Romanticism.
(c) Delusions.
(d) Inadequacy.

5. At the start of “A Hovering Young Man,” Smith describes someone who looks enough like her to be her what?
(a) Brother.
(b) Sister.
(c) Cousin.
(d) Father.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who taught Smith “to have one layer of skin less than the others, and therefore to feel it all” (92)?

2. What is Smith exiting when approached by an unfamiliar woman in “An Elder at the 98 Bus Stop”?

3. Smith compares the contempt on Dominc’s face during a press conference about the pandemic to the contempt of the American officer’s face while doing what?

4. What is the name of Smith’s masseur in “A Man with Strong Hands”?

5. What are the two subjects Smith says she and her masseur talk about while she gets a massage?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Smith rarely get manicures and never get pedicures?

2. How does Smith know the woman at the bus stop who approaches her must have known her from long ago?

3. What does Smith consider might be the reasons for the sign that read “I am a self-hating Asian. Let’s talk!” (66).

4. What is Smith’s relationship like with Ben, her masseuse?

5. What does Smith tell her students about style each semester?

6. How does Smith show that others in her building are leaving the city as well?

7. Who is Beck from “A Woman with A Little Dog”?

8. Why does Smith say she would likely commit suicide on the first hour of the first day of an apocalypse?

9. How does Smith show that when she went to the ATM in the first story in “Screengrabs” it was early on in the pandemic?

10. How does Smith describe the concept of British “class contempt” (74) in “Post-script: Contempt as a Virus”?

(see the answer keys)

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