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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 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.

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

3. In "Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison call the character of Sula?
(a) An adventuress.
(b) A conqueror.
(c) An artist.
(d) A delight.

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

5. Morrison began Beloved after seeing what?
(a) An argument between her mother and one of her friends.
(b) A newspaper clipping.
(c) Her father in the hospital.
(d) The arrest of a Black girl.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Site of Memory," Morrison proposes to show how memoir is similar to and different from what?

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

3. 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?

4. In "Memory, Creation, and Fiction," what does Morrison say about basing characters on people she knows well?

5. In "The Source of Self-Regard," what does Morrison say is a problem with writing novels that are based in history?

Short Essay Questions

1. In “Unspeakable Things Unspoken," who does Morrison credit with opening up the canon, and how would she like to see it further expanded?

2. 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?

3. According to “The Writer Before the Page," what is the relationship between Hannah Peace and Sula?

4. In “James Baldwin Eulogy,” what does Morrison describe as Baldwin's contribution to language?

5. In “The Trouble with Paradise" what reasons does Morrison give for leaving the racial identification of those in the Convent ambiguous?

6. 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?

7. In “Invisible Ink," what does Morrison say bothers her about the association of the word "pleasure" with reading?

8. In “Academic Whispers," what three reasons does Morrison say are poor reasons to include African American literature in the canon?

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. In “The Site of Memory," what reasons does Morrison give for finding her inclusion in an anthology about memoir to be both strange and appropriate?

(see the answer keys)

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