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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through “The American Exception” .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is one of the ways in which Smith said she had tried to resist her own nature?
(a) By dying her gray hair.
(b) By wearing fake nails.
(c) By speaking with a fake accent.
(d) By not keeping track of her menstrual cycles.

2. Despite a pandemic’s ability to discriminate, says Smith, the structure of American hierarchy meant that which groups experience higher death rates?
(a) Blacks and whites.
(b) Blacks and Latinos.
(c) Whites and Asians.
(d) Asians and Latinos.

3. While looking on at the garden, Smith thinks of a quote by Nabokov regarding his inspiration for which novel?
(a) Laura.
(b) Mary.
(c) Lolita.
(d) Glory.

4. What “obsession” (6) does Smith liken to her resistance to nature as a youth, an obsessions she says many writers share?
(a) Materialism.
(b) Control.
(c) Order.
(d) Chaos.

5. Though private interests play a role in the lives of many Americans, what private interest does Smith say should not be one of them?
(a) The Postal system.
(b) Healthcare.
(c) Education.
(d) Social security.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what city does Smith live at the start of “Peonies”?

2. What song does Smith reflect on how the lyrics would change if it were written for a man?

3. What does Smith say she believed to be the “cage of her circumstance” (3) when she was younger?

4. Smith thinks that one reason Americans cannot fathom plagues is because they do not discriminate based on what?

5. At the end of “The American Exception,” what did Smith say states were forced to bid on during the pandemic?

(see the answer key)

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