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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 8: Part II--God’s Language, including the essays “The Source of Self-Regard” through “Invisible Ink: Reading the Writing and Writing the Reading”.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Morrison say is a key reason for Western projections onto Africa?
(a) The persecution of indigenous Africans.
(b) Africa's poverty.
(c) Western ignorance about Africa.
(d) Missionaries' quest to Christianize Africa.

2. What does Morrison praise the National Endowment for the Arts for in "The Individual Artist"?
(a) Taking risks on individual artists.
(b) Encouraging patriotism in the arts.
(c) Funding art that everyone agrees is worthwhile.
(d) Avoiding controversy.

3. In "Race Matters," Morrison says that when she was younger she found something in writing that she could not find in life itself--what was it?
(a) Justice.
(b) Sovereignty.
(c) Love.
(d) Immortality.

4. 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 ironically illustrates the constantly shifting rationale for exclusion.
(b) It is a straw-man version of the counterclaims Morrison is trying to undermine.
(c) It adds a comic note that breaks the tension of a series of upsetting images.
(d) It introduces a nostalgic tone that supports Morrison's argument with an element of pathos.

5. 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?
(a) Figurative language.
(b) Allusion.
(c) Logos.
(d) Ethos.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Writer Before the Page," Morrison explains what about the structure of her novels?

2. In "The Source of Self-Regard," Morrison recounts being asked how to teach one of her books when what was true?

3. 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?

4. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," what element does Morrison say is an aspect of the European American response to chaos lacking in the indigenous response?

5. In "On Beloved," Morrison says that one thing that frustrates her is the absence of Black girls where?

(see the answer key)

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