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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "The Trouble with Paradise," what does Morrison call "a realm that is no realm at all"?
(a) History.
(b) Gender.
(c) Slavery.
(d) Race.

2. In "The Writer Before the Page," Morrison says that she wants to do what with her writing?
(a) Challenge critics to accept a blurring between memoir and fiction.
(b) Engage the reader in a participatory relationship.
(c) Question the foundations of the Western canon.
(d) Tell a fictionalized account of her own life story.

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

4. John Gardner's novel Grendel uses the original story as a source for what?
(a) A meditation on the nature of heroism.
(b) A retelling from Grendel's point of view.
(c) A feminist interpretation of Grendel's mother.
(d) A psychological study of motherhood.

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

6. In "God's Language," what does Morrison say gets more attention than paradise?
(a) Power.
(b) Hell.
(c) Money.
(d) Race.

7. In "Grendel and His Mother," Morrison notes that Beowulf is a part of Western literature's characterization of evil as what?
(a) Feminine.
(b) A product of environment.
(c) A philosophical construct.
(d) Pervasive.

8. In "Introduction to Peter Sellars," Morrison says that Sellars wanted what kind of introduction?
(a) Off-topic.
(b) Humorously elaborate.
(c) Extremely brief.
(d) Scholarly but clear.

9. What does the title "Academic Whispers" refer to?
(a) Rumors circulating in the Princeton English Department about Morrison's refusal to participate in literary scholarship.
(b) Echoes of past racism in modern literary criticism.
(c) The secret agreement to exclude Black professors from tenure at Princeton.
(d) Morrison's belief that there is a quiet conversation taking place about the purpose of African American literature.

10. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison introduces Rafferty's criticism of Milan Kundera's Eurocentrism because she says that it can do what?
(a) Highlight the need for a new appraisal of European contributions to the canon.
(b) Motivate a re-imagining of the role of scholarship in shaping 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.

11. In "Goodbye to All That," to what other group's struggle does Morrison compare the struggle of Black writers to claim territory that is both identity-specific and identity-neutral?
(a) Muslims.
(b) Women.
(c) The poor.
(d) Immigrants.

12. In "On Beloved," Morrison says that what field of study drew her to the subject matter of Beloved?
(a) History.
(b) Science.
(c) Literature.
(d) Philosophy.

13. In "The Source of Self-Regard," Morrison recounts being asked how to teach one of her books when what was true?
(a) When there were no CliffsNotes.
(b) When students struggle to understand her language.
(c) When the teacher is white.
(d) When parents oppose the reading of her book.

14. In "Chinua Achebe," what does Morrison say she discovered at Africa House?
(a) A series of lectures by Chinua Achebe.
(b) African American art.
(c) A writer who helped her meet Chinua Achebe.
(d) African literature.

15. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison says that she was told that the two responses to chaos are what?
(a) Imagination and reshaping.
(b) Despair and hope.
(c) Critique and acceptance.
(d) Naming and violence.

Short Answer Questions

1. In her "James Baldwin Eulogy," Morrison makes an allusion to what Biblical story?

2. "The Trouble with Paradise" is mostly about what?

3. In "God's Language," what does Morrison say is the place of religion in African American culture?

4. In "Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison says that there was once a false division of art into what two categories?

5. In "Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison say is characteristic of Black art?

(see the answer keys)

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