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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. In "Moral Inhabitants," what is the list of American leaders meant to demonstrate?
(a) Great leaders are born, not made.
(b) Great leaders are "ahead of their time."
(c) Slavery was a violent and degrading institution.
(d) History only shows us one side of these leaders.

2. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison introduces Rafferty's criticism of Milan Kundera's Eurocentrism because she says that it can do what?
(a) Motivate a re-imagining of the role of scholarship in shaping the canon.
(b) Serve as a model for African American writers seeking inclusion in the canon.
(c) Demonstrate why the American canon is an illusion.
(d) Highlight the need for a new appraisal of European contributions to the canon.

3. Morrison's reading of fiction about Africa written by non-African writers reminded her of what part of her childhood?
(a) When she struggled to understand a movie set in Asia.
(b) When the church collection plate was passed to raise money for Africa.
(c) The first time she was called a racial epithet.
(d) Her own immigration to America from Ghana.

4. Why is "panoply" a clever piece of diction as used in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?
(a) It is part of the alliteration that creates rhythm in the passage.
(b) It is another pun, echoing the essay's opening.
(c) It has negative connotations that support the irony in the essay's tone.
(d) It has a secondary meaning that has to do with arms and armor.

5. In "Academic Whispers," Morrison compares African American literature to what?
(a) A "houseboy," ushering guests into a party he is not invited to.
(b) A horse pulling a carriage for its wealthy master.
(c) A "field hand" tending crops he does not own.
(d) A child who has been locked out of his own house.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison says that she was told that the two responses to chaos are what?

2. In "Women, Race, and Memory," Morrison uses the phrase "internecine conflict." In context, this phrase means what?

3. According to "Harlem on My Mind," why did the 1969 exhibit by the same name fail?

4. In "Race Matters," Morrison says that she refuses to write in what voice?

5. "The War on Error" is a speech given to what group?

(see the answer key)

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