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

2. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison compares the restriction of the canon by traditional Western standards to what?
(a) A glass house.
(b) A corset.
(c) A lobotomy.
(d) A jail cell.

3. 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.

4. In "Chinua Achebe," Morrison says that she learned what from Achebe?
(a) The meaning of aspects of African culture that had frustrated and puzzled her.
(b) How to focus her writing on her own truth instead of on nonwhite audiences' expectations.
(c) How to properly structure a narrative.
(d) The importance of the Africanistic presence in American literature.

5. 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) The historical research can start to take over the story.
(c) There is not much accurate history available.
(d) Readers are alienated by history.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. 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?

4. In "The Site of Memory," what tactic does Morrison point out in slave narratives?

5. What does the title "Academic Whispers" refer to?

Short Essay Questions

1. What point is Morrison trying to illustrate when she brings up the origins of Ancient Greece in “Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?

2. In “Grendel and His Mother," what does Morrison say is interesting about the Danes' reaction to Grendel, and what does she say this shows about the nature of evil?

3. According to “The Writer Before the Page," why does Morrison use allusions to folktales in her writing?

4. In “Memory, Creation, and Fiction," what Black cultural aesthetic expectations does Morrison discuss as important in her work, and why is it important to her to use them?

5. In “Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," what confuses Morrison about Stein's portrayal of Rose?

6. In “The Site of Memory," what does Morrison say about how image and memory interacted for her in relation to her father's death and Song of Solomon?

7. In “Academic Whispers," what does Morrison say used to annoy her about being asked to speak about racism?

8. In “Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison say Faulkner's influence on her has been?

9. In "On Beloved," Morrison discusses Sula and Beloved in the context of feminism; what is the relationship of these two texts to feminism?

10. According to “Goodbye to All That: Race, Surrogacy, and Farewell," what have been the changes over time in the literary handling of relationships between women of different races?

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