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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Faulkner and Women," whom does Morrison say she imagines when as a reader when she is writing?
(a) African Americans.
(b) Literary critics.
(c) Herself.
(d) Everyone.

2. In "Faulkner and Women," What reasons does Morrison give for not being able to speak to the conference about Faulkner?
(a) She has said everything she has to say about Faulkner already, in her Cornell thesis.
(b) Faulkner's relationship to women is too unpleasant to speak about.
(c) She is too busy writing Beloved.
(d) She does not feel like she knows enough about Faulkner.

3. In "Invisible Ink," Morrison says that she would like to read a book where what is left ambiguous?
(a) The conclusion.
(b) The setting.
(c) The narrator's gender.
(d) The meaning of symbolism.

4. In her "James Baldwin Eulogy," Morrison makes an allusion to what Biblical story?
(a) David and Goliath.
(b) The visit of the Three Wise Men to the Christ child.
(c) Leviathan.
(d) The destruction of Solomon's temple.

5. In "Faulkner and Women," what effect does Morrison say Faulkner has had on her writing?
(a) He provided an example of how to manipulate language.
(b) None.
(c) She uses symbolism in a similar way.
(d) Faulkner was the inspiration for Song of Solomon.

6. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison introduces Rafferty's criticism of Milan Kundera's Eurocentrism because she says that it can do what?
(a) Motivate a re-imagining of the role of scholarship in shaping the canon.
(b) Highlight the need for a new appraisal of European contributions to the canon.
(c) Serve as a model for African American writers seeking inclusion in the canon.
(d) Demonstrate why the American canon is an illusion.

7. In "God's Language," Morrison says that she does not keep a writer's notebook because of what?
(a) Her process does not work with a writer's notebook.
(b) She thinks writer's notebooks are an excuse to avoid actual writing.
(c) She is afraid that people would want to read it.
(d) Her novels serve the same purpose as a writer's notebook.

8. Which is the best definition of "churlish" as used in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?
(a) Innocent, childlike.
(b) Scholarly, didactic.
(c) Remote, unobtainable.
(d) Rude, mean-spirited.

9. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison notes that she almost titled the essay something else--what?
(a) Canon Father.
(b) Canon Fodder.
(c) Cannon Fodder.
(d) Cannon Father.

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

11. In "Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison say is characteristic of Black art?
(a) Its use of cross-genre influences.
(b) Its use of allegory.
(c) Its use of historical allusions.
(d) Its use of myth.

12. In "God's Language," what does Morrison say seems more true the longer she writes?
(a) That she deserves the praise she got earlier in her career.
(b) The centrality of African American subjects.
(c) That it will be possible to merge the scientific and the artistic.
(d) The impossibility of writing.

13. In "Invisible Ink," what word does Morrison object to when it is applied to reading?
(a) Art.
(b) Challenge.
(c) Participation.
(d) Pleasure.

14. In "The Site of Memory," Morrison remarks on the absence of what in slave narratives?
(a) Depictions of the narrator's interior life.
(b) Sophisticated use of language.
(c) Details of everyday life on the plantations.
(d) Historical accuracy.

15. In "Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison notes what about African American visual art?
(a) Its relationship to the other arts has received insufficient attention.
(b) It has been criticized more rigorously and unfairly than the other arts.
(c) It developed later than other arts, such as literature.
(d) It is more central to Blackness than other arts.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. In "Rememory," Morrison complains that a racist society has what effect on her as a writer?

3. Who is Hannah Peace?

4. In "Grendel and His Mother," Morrison notes the significance of what characteristic of Grendel's mother?

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?

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