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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 "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison calls the "merging of forms" one of the key aspects of what literary movement?
(a) Postmodernism.
(b) Romanticism.
(c) Modernism.
(d) The Harlem Renaissance.

2. In "The Site of Memory," Morrison says that slave narratives had two purposes: one was to record the life of an individual human being, and the other was what?
(a) To contribute to the historical record.
(b) To advance the cause of abolition.
(c) To condemn their former masters.
(d) To rebut narratives by plantation owners.

3. In the story that opens "The Nobel Lecture in Literature," where does the old woman say the answer to the children's question is?
(a) She doesn't actually answer their question.
(b) In her eyes.
(c) In their hearts.
(d) In their hands.

4. The Radiance of the King is a novel by Camara Laye, an author of what origin?
(a) European.
(b) North American.
(c) Asian.
(d) African.

5. In "The In "The Nobel Lecture in Literature," Morrison speculates about how much more knowledge we would have if scholarship was not held back by what?
(a) Governmental interference.
(b) Exclusion of Black scholars.
(c) A lack of funding.
(d) Oppressive language.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Morrison say we erroneously turn for answers to contemporary social problems?

2. In "The Individual Artist," what does Morrison find interesting about the feud between literary critics from different schools of criticism?

3. What does the title "Academic Whispers" refer to?

4. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison says that what is different about the discussion of including African-American literature in the canon is that unlike earlier arguments over expanding the canon, this one does what?

5. In her "Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address," Morrison says that when you hate you become what?

(see the answer key)

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