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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. Who was James Baldwin?
2. In "Rememory," what does Morrison say causes her to rely on memory rather than history?
3. In "The Trouble with Paradise," Morrison says she knows how whiteness "matures and ascends the throne of universalism." What is the best descriptor of this phrase?
4. In "Hard, True, and Lasting," Morrison says that she identifies the things she loves and values by doing what?
5. In "Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison say is characteristic of Black art?
Short Essay Questions
1. In “Academic Whispers," what does Morrison say used to annoy her about being asked to speak about racism?
2. In “Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison says that the two responses to chaos are "renaming" and "violence." What does she mean by this?
3. In “Unspeakable Things Unspoken," who does Morrison credit with opening up the canon, and how would she like to see it further expanded?
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 “The Source of Self-Regard," what does Morrison say made her uncomfortable about the letters she received from students, and why did it make her feel this way?
6. In “The Source of Self-Regard," what does Morrison describe as some of the contradictions that jazz contains?
7. In “Introduction of Peter Sellars," what are the main points of Morrison's praise for Peter Sellars as an artist?
8. In “Invisible Ink," Morrison proposes that current ways of thinking about the interaction between reader and text are missing an element: the "invisible ink" that can manipulate the reader. Explain what she means by this.
9. 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?
10. In “Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison say Faulkner's influence on her has been?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In "Rememory," Morrison discusses the different public perceptions of Black and white artists. What are the differences she sees? Do you think that this is still true today? Give examples from literature, film, music, or the visual arts to support your claims.
Essay Topic 2
In "The Site of Memory," Morrison describes compromises that authors of slave narratives had to make in order to accomplish their goals. What were these compromises, what were the goals of slave narratives, and how did one make the other necessary?
Essay Topic 3
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?
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This section contains 1,004 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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