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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Morrison's investigation is specifically listed as not being one of which of the following?

2. In which novel does Morrison discuss a character named Catherine?

3. Which flight is described by Morrison as an escape?

4. In the book featuring Henry Morgan, what is stressed?

5. What rises up when the character dies in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym?

Short Essay Questions

1. The common claim that white America has considered many things without reference to the black population includes what concepts?

2. Why does Morrison deem Poe the most important early American writer?

3. How does Huckleberry Finn critique class and race?

4. How does Hemingway make the serviceability of the Africanist presence more pronounced?

5. What is the significance of nurses in Hemingway's work?

6. What does William Carlos Williams's Adam describe?

7. Describe the unmanageable slips throughout Poe's work.

8. According to Morrison, what does American literature represent a commentary of?

9. According to Morrison, what does Poe's work show?

10. What characteristics does Morrison describe as being the distinguishing features of non-Americans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the difference between denotative and connotative definitions involving the term Africanism. Describe both definitions. Then explain the denotative and connotative definitions of another term that Morrison uses in response to American literature.

Essay Topic 2

Morrison started a file to document instances of black people igniting moments of discovery in literature not written by them. Why is this significant? Why did Morrison begin doing this? Is this a positive or negative thing for Morrison to do? Why? What effect did doing this have on Morrison?

Essay Topic 3

Morrison states that she struggles with language that evokes hidden signals of racial superiority and that her vulnerability lies in romanticizing blackness. What does this mean? What does this tell the reader about Morrison and about literature? Give an example of hidden signals of racial superiority and romanticizing a race.

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