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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 6: Part II--God’s Language, including the essays “James Baldwin Eulogy” through “The Writer Before the Page”.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Grendel and His Mother," Morrison notes the significance of what characteristic of Grendel's mother?
(a) Her intelligence.
(b) Her lack of speech.
(c) Her size.
(d) Her capacity for forgiveness.

2. What does Morrison praise the National Endowment for the Arts for in "The Individual Artist"?
(a) Funding art that everyone agrees is worthwhile.
(b) Encouraging patriotism in the arts.
(c) Avoiding controversy.
(d) Taking risks on individual artists.

3. In "Black Matter(s)," what does Morrison say she means by "American Africanism"?
(a) The historic systemic oppression of Black Americans.
(b) A white-American construct that defines "American" against a fabrication of Blackness.
(c) A claim for expansion of the literary canon to incorporate Black writers.
(d) A Black literary movement that centers Africanness.

4. In "The Slavebody and the Blackbody," Morrison says what about slavery?
(a) Writing about it can be cruel to modern African Americans.
(b) Slavery's consequences have been the same throughout history.
(c) Most modern Americans do not have any historic ties to slavery.
(d) It is an ancient practice that is not always tied to racism.

5. Who is Hannah Peace?
(a) A character in Beloved.
(b) A literary scholar.
(c) The inspiration for Sula.
(d) A Black writer that Morrison admires.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Writer Before the Page," what does Morrison say she avoids in her writing?

2. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison says that a key "absence" in writing about racism is the omission of its impact on whom?

3. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison retells the story of William Dunbar as an example of what?

4. In "The Individual Artist," why does Morrison say that the romantic vision of the artist is a "Procrustean bed"?

5. In "Grendel and His Mother," what claim does Morrison make for Beowulf?

(see the answer key)

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