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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.," what does Morrison say she wonders about MLK?
(a) Where he found his courage.
(b) Whether he would be disappointed in her.
(c) Whether he would be satisfied with the progress Americans have made.
(d) How he preserved his sense of hope.

2. In her "Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address," Morrison defines "dreaming" as what?
(a) A meditative state that improves the creative capacity of the Self.
(b) An impractical luxury we cannot afford in modern times.
(c) Wasted time engaged in wishful thinking.
(d) Deliberate imagining that creates intimacy with the Other.

3. In "The Individual Artist," why does Morrison say that the romantic vision of the artist is a "Procrustean bed"?
(a) Because it implies that artists suffer because they are lazy.
(b) Because it denies artists their individuality.
(c) Because it makes a legend out of ordinary reality.
(d) Because the romantic ideal is old-fashioned.

4. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison retells the story of William Dunbar as an example of what?
(a) A slave who struggled to make his voice heard.
(b) A prototypical American white male.
(c) A critic who understands the significance of Black art.
(d) A victim of state violence.

5. In "Race Matters," Morrison says that tow of the thematic concerns of her work are race and what?
(a) Gender.
(b) Home.
(c) Liberty.
(d) History.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison says that immigration from the Old World to the New World is usually seen as what?

2. In "Literature and Public Life," what does Morrison say shapes our understanding of community?

3. What question does Morrison say is at the center of of government?

4. The ending of The Radiance of the King, according to Morrison, indicates that Clarence has undergone what kind of transformation?

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?

Short Essay Questions

1. In her speech “Cinderella’s Stepsisters," what is the purpose of the allusion to Cinderella?

2. In “Black Matter(s)," what does Morrison mean by the term "Africanism"?

3. In “Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.," what does Morrison say that she wonders about MLK, and why?

4. What current problems with arts funding does Morrison identify in “Arts Advocacy”?

5. In “The Nobel Lecture in Literature," Morrison explains why oppressive language is a problem: what effects does she claim it has?

6. In “Harlem on My Mind," what does Morrison point to as the causes of the failure of the New York Metropolitan Museum's 1968 exhibit on Harlem?

7. In “A Race in Mind: The Press in Deed," how does Morrison connect the idea of "special interests" with the racial identification of subjects in news stories?

8. In “The Slavebody and the Blackbody,” how does Morrison differentiate between these two kinds of bodies, and why does she bother?

9. In “Black Matter(s)," what main points does Morrison make about the alleged race-neutrality of American history?

10. In “Wartalk,” how does Morrison say that globalization differs from colonialism and internationalism?

(see the answer keys)

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