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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 7: Part II--God’s Language, including the essays “The Trouble with Paradise” through “Faulkner and Woman”.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In her "Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address," Morrison defines "dreaming" as what?
(a) Wasted time engaged in wishful thinking.
(b) An impractical luxury we cannot afford in modern times.
(c) Deliberate imagining that creates intimacy with the Other.
(d) A meditative state that improves the creative capacity of the Self.

2. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison says that arguments against the inclusion of African American writings in the canon follow a sequence that ends with what belief?
(a) African American literature can be superior, but only by meeting the standards of the Western canon.
(b) African American literature does not exist.
(c) African American literature is inferior.
(d) African American literature is a rich raw material but it needs refinement by a Western or European hand.

3. In "On Beloved," Morrison says that one thing that frustrates her is the absence of Black girls where?
(a) In media and entertainment.
(b) In elite educational institutions.
(c) In history and literature.
(d) In science and mathematics.

4. What form of literature does Morrison discuss at length in "Black Matter(s)"?
(a) Slave narratives.
(b) Literary memoirs.
(c) Art criticism.
(d) Religious sermons.

5. 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 rebut narratives by plantation owners.
(c) To advance the cause of abolition.
(d) To condemn their former masters.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the story that opens "The Nobel Lecture in Literature," where does the old woman say the answer to the children's question is?

2. According to Morrison's "Black Matter(s)," the slave population became the focus of what fundamental feeling of the colonists?

3. In "Grendel and His Mother," Morrison notes that Beowulf is a part of Western literature's characterization of evil as what?

4. In "The Nobel Lecture in Literature," Morrison compares the old woman in the story to what?

5. What does Morrison praise the National Endowment for the Arts for in "The Individual Artist"?

(see the answer key)

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