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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where did Morrison go to school as a child?
(a) In desegregated private schools throughout America.
(b) In segregated private schools in New York.
(c) In public schools in Ohio that had never been segregated.
(d) In public schools in Florida that were suddenly segregated while she was a student.

2. In "Race Matters," Morrison says that she refuses to write in what voice?
(a) A masculine one.
(b) A race-specific one.
(c) The master's.
(d) The slave's.

3. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison says that a key "absence" in writing about racism is the omission of its impact on whom?
(a) Women.
(b) Perpetrators.
(c) Future generations.
(d) Non-Black minorities.

4. According to "Harlem on My Mind," the term "postblack" refers to whom?
(a) Critics who make race the key factor in their analysis of works of art.
(b) Black artists who distance themselves from Blackness by identifying with white culture.
(c) Critics who refuse to evaluate Black art according to the aesthetics of the Black community.
(d) Black artists who want their art to be evaluated by aesthetic standards only--not classified according to their race.

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

6. In "Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.," what does Morrison say is MLK's legacy?
(a) He made it a compelling and ordinary act to take personal responsibility for preventing social harm.
(b) He inspired young people to become civil rights leaders.
(c) He taught the world that religious faith must translate into social action.
(d) He provided the motivation for both Black and white Americans to tear down racial barriers.

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

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

9. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison says that we can understand something important about literary "whiteness" by studying what?
(a) Changes to the canon over time.
(b) Literary Blackness.
(c) Black writers.
(d) History.

10. According to Morrison's "Black Matter(s)," the slave population became the focus of what fundamental feeling of the colonists?
(a) The "Romantic yearning for freedom."
(b) The "Pilgrim's awe and piety."
(c) The "immigrant's hope."
(d) The "outcast's terror."

11. To whom does Morrison address her remarks about the dead of September 11, 2001?
(a) To the dead themselves.
(b) To all Americans.
(c) To the terrorists responsible for the deaths.
(d) To the families of the dead.

12. According to Morrison, how does fascism arise?
(a) By insisting that all people be treated identically.
(b) When minority groups gain power over the majority.
(c) As a series of small, orderly steps.
(d) With sudden revolution.

13. Morrison claims that after WWII, the language used to discuss war became more what?
(a) Childish and simplistic.
(b) Persuasive and subtle.
(c) Elevated and heroic.
(d) Propagandistic and angry.

14. What is it that Morrison says distinguishes globalism from previous movements?
(a) The way it distributes wealth.
(b) Changes in political alliances.
(c) Its documentation in literature.
(d) Its speed.

15. 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) Exclusion of Black scholars.
(b) A lack of funding.
(c) Oppressive language.
(d) Governmental interference.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison retells the story of William Dunbar as an example of what?

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

3. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison speculates that slaves offered white Americans a sense of what?

4. In "Literature and Public Life," Morrison says that the public interest has been redefined as what?

5. "Noblesse oblige" is a philosophy that urged the nobility to do what?

(see the answer keys)

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