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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 "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison says that she sees a reflection of African-American cultural traditions in what form of literature?
(a) Greek tragedy.
(b) Oral narratives.
(c) Early European novels.
(d) Epic poetry.

2. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison introduces Rogin's commentary on Moby Dick for what purpose?
(a) As part of her explication of the timeline of Western literature.
(b) To highlight the importance of Black scholarship.
(c) As an example of how a canonical piece can be enriched by reading for the Black presence.
(d) So that she can rebut Rogin's reading of Moby Dick.

3. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison brings up Bernal's two models of Greek history in order to illustrate what point?
(a) The Phoenicians are wrongly viewed as culturally close to ancient Jewish civilization.
(b) Western Civilization's European foundation story rests on dubious scholarship.
(c) The European model of Ancient Greece is the basis of Christianity's appropriation of Israel.
(d) Ancient Greece's contributions to Western culture are not as significant as many claim.

4. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison compares the restriction of the canon by traditional Western standards to what?
(a) A jail cell.
(b) A corset.
(c) A glass house.
(d) A lobotomy.

5. In the story that opens "The Nobel Lecture in Literature," what do the children ask the old woman about?
(a) A bird.
(b) A baby.
(c) Death.
(d) Love.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Race Matters," what word does Morrison call an unsatisfying and shallow ending for Beloved?

2. In "The Slavebody and the Blackbody," when Morrison suggests that writing about slavery cuts away at the scar tissue the blackbody uses to hide the slavebody, what technique is she using?

3. According to "Harlem on My Mind," the term "postblack" refers to whom?

4. In "Moral Inhabitants," what is the list of American leaders meant to demonstrate?

5. Store displays arranged to look like the interiors of houses and the interiors of houses arranged to look like store displays is an example Morrison gives of which aspect of globalism?

(see the answer key)

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