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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In her "Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address," what irony is Morrison's discussion of "Feed the Children" campaigns intended to illustrate?

2. "Noblesse oblige" is a philosophy that urged the nobility to do what?

3. Where did Morrison go to school as a child?

4. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison speculates that slaves offered white Americans a sense of what?

5. In her "Sarah Lawrence Commencement Address," Morrison says that one of her aims is to do what?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. 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?

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

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

7. In “Black Matter(s)," in what ways does Morrison say Africanism has become a "disabling virus"?

8. In “The Future of Time: Literature and Diminished Expectations," why does Morrison say it is important for us to turn our attention to the future?

9. In “The Nobel Lecture in Literature," what is the story that Morrison uses to frame her speech?

10. In “Black Matter(s)," what point is Morrison illustrating with the excerpt she includes from Bailyn's Voyagers of the West?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In “Home” and “Wartalk,” Morrison explores how social change and historical events can shape language. Choose a word that she analyzes in “Home” and a word that she analyzes in “Wartalk.” Explain what Morrison would say the two words have in common and what she would say is different between them.

Essay Topic 2

In her eulogy for James Baldwin, Morrison enumerates three gifts that Baldwin gave her and three ways in which Baldwin is an inspiration to her. What are these gifts and sources of inspiration, and how does Morrison try to make use of them?

Essay Topic 3

In "On Beloved," Morrison offers a metaphorical comparison between an image or piece of language and a key, and compares untraveled literary territory to an area locked behind a large locked door. Explain what she means by this comparison and how it relates to her writing of Beloved.

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