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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through “Something To Do” .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which president’s speech does Smith cite at the start of “The American Exception”?
(a) Bill Clinton.
(b) Donald Trump.
(c) Barack Obama.
(d) Joe Biden.

2. What does Smith say we had before the pandemic instead of death?
(a) Immortality.
(b) Universal healthcare.
(c) The flu.
(d) Casualties and victims.

3. What does Smith say she believed to be the “cage of her circumstance” (3) when she was younger?
(a) Her sexual orientation.
(b) Her gender.
(c) Her class.
(d) Her race.

4. Who did people “thank God for” (16) after the pandemic when, Smith says, they were not seen as worthy of a $15/ hour minimum wage prior to the pandemic?
(a) Doctors.
(b) Bartenders.
(c) Essential Workers.
(d) Teachers.

5. At which point does Smith say a man submits to nature?
(a) In old age.
(b) At birth.
(c) In private.
(d) In death.

Short Answer Questions

1. What purported purpose of art does Smith say is usually overstated in her essay “Something to Do”?

2. What example does Smith use in “Peonies” as a time when submitting might be better than resisting?

3. Smith refers to the space of time that artists usually occupy as a “charming but useless” what?

4. What is the title of the second essay in Zadie’s Smith’s collection, Intimations?

5. What does Smith say has “rarely been random” in America in her essay “The American Exception”?

(see the answer key)

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