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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 5: Interlude--Black Matter(s), including the essays “Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature” through “Hard, True, and Lasting”.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. "Noblesse oblige" is a philosophy that urged the nobility to do what?
(a) Share their wealth.
(b) Accumulate as much land as possible.
(c) Seize power from the church.
(d) Prevent strangers from entering their lands.

2. In "Women, Race, and Memory," Morrison relates an anecdote about which historical figure?
(a) Harriet Tubman.
(b) Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
(c) Sojourner Truth.
(d) Mary Shelly.

3. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison retells the story of William Dunbar as an example of what?
(a) A prototypical American white male.
(b) A victim of state violence.
(c) A critic who understands the significance of Black art.
(d) A slave who struggled to make his voice heard.

4. According to Morrison, identifying the race of a subject can have what unintended consequence?
(a) Shaping public perception of whiteness.
(b) Perpetuating stereotypes and marginalizing minorities.
(c) Inaccurately depicting race as "real" instead of as a "construct."
(d) Better representation of marginalized communities.

5. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison comments that race was once used to exclude Blacks, but now that they want their race represented, they are told it does not exist. What function does this detail perform?
(a) It is a straw-man version of the counterclaims Morrison is trying to undermine.
(b) It ironically illustrates the constantly shifting rationale for exclusion.
(c) It introduces a nostalgic tone that supports Morrison's argument with an element of pathos.
(d) It adds a comic note that breaks the tension of a series of upsetting images.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Slavebody and the Blackbody," Morrison says what about slavery?

2. In "Literature and Public Life," Morrison says that the public interest has been redefined as what?

3. What question does Morrison say is at the center of of government?

4. Which is the best definition of "churlish" as used in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?

5. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison introduces Rafferty's criticism of Milan Kundera's Eurocentrism because she says that it can do what?

(see the answer key)

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