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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 "Cinderella's Stepsisters," Morrison's central claim is that women should not do what?
(a) Participate in corrupt institutions.
(b) Undermine feminism by being too nurturing.
(c) Oppress other women.
(d) Risk the gains women have made by trying to move forward too quickly.

2. In "Women, Race, and Memory," Morrison uses the phrase "internecine conflict." In context, this phrase means what?
(a) A conflict that hurts both sides.
(b) A philosophical difference that divides a group.
(c) Hostility between the classes.
(d) Conflict between women.

3. In "Arts Advocacy," Morrison recounts discovering that a highly regarded artist vetoed funding for another artist for what reason?
(a) He knew that the other artist's work would sell better if the public saw him "struggling."
(b) He was jealous of the other artist's possible success.
(c) He found the other artist's work too controversial.
(d) He thought that having a secure income would ruin the other artist's work.

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) Black artists who want their art to be evaluated by aesthetic standards only--not classified according to their race.
(d) Critics who refuse to evaluate Black art according to the aesthetics of the Black community.

5. "The War on Error" is a speech given to what group?
(a) Sarah Lawrence College.
(b) Amnesty International.
(c) ArtTable.
(d) The Newspaper Association of America.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. According to Morrison's "Black Matter(s)," the slave population became the focus of what fundamental feeling of the colonists?

3. In "Literature and Public Life," Morrison says that we live in the age of what?

4. What does Morrison say is at its greatest height since the time of the slave trade?

5. In "Race Matters," Morrison compares race to what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. in “The Price of Wealth, the Cost of Care," what stages does Morrison trace the evolution of Western culture's attitude toward the accumulation of money?

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

4. In “The Foreigner’s Home,” what point is Morrison making with her discussion of The Radiance of the King?

5. 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?

6. In “The Dead of September 11,” Morrison alludes to a famous speech. What speech does she allude to and what is the purpose of this allusion?

7. In “The Habit of Art," why does Morrison allude to Antigone?

8. In “Literature and Public Life," what does Morrison blame television for, and what does she propose as a solution?

9. According to Morrison's “Women, Race, and Memory," what are the assumptions behind infighting among women?

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

(see the answer keys)

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