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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 does Morrison propose to investigate?
(a) Racial bias.
(b) Racial superiority.
(c) Racial hierarchy.
(d) Racial exclusivity.

2. What does Morrison say produces work?
(a) Relaxation.
(b) Imagination.
(c) Stress.
(d) Perseverance.

3. Who is the author of Three Lives?
(a) Henry James.
(b) Marie Cardinal.
(c) Gertrude Stein.
(d) Willa Cather.

4. In what role does Morrison describe herself as assuming nothing happens?
(a) European.
(b) Reader.
(c) Writer.
(d) Black woman.

5. In the attack on Algeria, what does Cardinal see?
(a) White slaughter of an Indian mother.
(b) White slaughter of a white mother.
(c) White slaughter of a black mother.
(d) Vengeful slaughter of an innocent.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did Morrison read The Words to Say It?

2. Who is the author of Possession?

3. What does Morrison not mention the world as being?

4. Where did Cardinal grow up?

5. What put the author of The Words to Say It into a gripped panic?

Short Essay Questions

1. After reading the preface, what can the reader expect Morrison to discuss?

2. How does Morrison view other writers?

3. How does Morrison describe references to the novel Sapphira and the Slave Girl?

4. Who does Morrison blame for literary whiteness and blackness?

5. To Morrison, why are reading and writing not extremely distinct for a writer?

6. What does Morrison hope that studies of racism will begin to examine?

7. What does Toni Morrison think about Marie Cardinal's book?

8. Until recently, what did Morrison assume about all readers of American fiction?

9. What does Morrison say about Africanism worldwide?

10. What is the book Playing in the Dark based on?

(see the answer keys)

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