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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Academic Whispers," who does Morrison say should be asked to speak about racism?
(a) Racists.
(b) Writers.
(c) Victims of racism.
(d) Historians.

2. 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) Women.
(b) The poor.
(c) Muslims.
(d) Immigrants.

3. Why is "panoply" a clever piece of diction as used in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?
(a) It is part of the alliteration that creates rhythm in the passage.
(b) It is another pun, echoing the essay's opening.
(c) It has negative connotations that support the irony in the essay's tone.
(d) It has a secondary meaning that has to do with arms and armor.

4. In "The Source of Self-Regard," what does Morrison say is a problem with writing novels that are based in history?
(a) No one analytically questions history.
(b) There is not much accurate history available.
(c) The historical research can start to take over the story.
(d) Readers are alienated by history.

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

6. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison credits what group with beginning to open up the canon?
(a) Black writers.
(b) The American academy.
(c) Immigrants.
(d) Feminist scholars.

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

8. 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.

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

10. 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?
(a) Meditation.
(b) Pragmatism.
(c) Disrespect.
(d) Wonder.

11. In "The Trouble with Paradise," Morrison claims that in the modern world, what has become "trivial"?
(a) Religion.
(b) Justice.
(c) Paradise.
(d) Morailty.

12. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison posits that the "Lone" Ranger is "lone" because of what?
(a) Hiding his face behind a mask.
(b) His gender.
(c) His race.
(d) The presence of Tonto.

13. In "Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison says that early scholarship on creating a canon of Black art tended to focus on what?
(a) Nation building.
(b) Cross-genre analysis.
(c) Assimilation.
(d) The Western cultural aesthetic.

14. In "Invisible Ink," what word does Morrison object to when it is applied to text?
(a) Stable.
(b) Fictive.
(c) Dynamic.
(d) Truthful.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In "The Source of Self-Regard," Morrison writes about not wanting to turn her readers into voyeurs. In this context, the word "voyeur" should be defined how?

3. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison notes that she almost titled the essay something else--what?

4. In "Academic Whispers," Morrison says that interview requests used to make her feel like she was being used as what?

5. In "Introduction to Peter Sellars," Morrison says that Sellars wanted what kind of introduction?

(see the answer keys)

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