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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. “Truly laboring people,” Smith says, have to adhere to this, to which an artist does not have to adhere?
(a) Traffic patterns.
(b) A boss’s whim.
(c) A time clock.
(d) A bus schedule.

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

3. What does Smith say has “rarely been random” in America in her essay “The American Exception”?
(a) COVID-19 recoveries.
(b) Presidential nominations.
(c) COVID-19 cases.
(d) Untimely death.

4. What is one thing Smith says that wealthy people would not do if suffering were relative?
(a) Work.
(b) Commit suicide.
(c) Buy so many things.
(d) Seek therapy.

5. The moment Smith realized that she had misunderstood the conversation between the women in the Subway shop was the moment Smith says she became aware of her what?
(a) Hearing problems.
(b) Isolation.
(c) Privilege.
(d) Nosiness.

6. Smith thinks that one reason Americans cannot fathom plagues is because they do not discriminate based on what?
(a) Zip code.
(b) Gender.
(c) Skin color.
(d) Wealth.

7. In suffering like Mel Gibson, Smith says that prior to the pandemic people were learning about the link between privilege and what?
(a) Gender.
(b) Race.
(c) Intersectionality.
(d) Class.

8. Nabokov said the inspiration for his novel came from an article about an ape that drew what?
(a) Bananas.
(b) His self-portrait.
(c) His own cage.
(d) His captors.

9. What type of person does Smith say has created some of the most powerful art she has seen?
(a) People who feel completely alone in the world.
(b) People who have no contact with the outside world.
(c) People who constantly strive for perfection.
(d) People who endlessly engage with their subjects.

10. What does Smith say a man can bend to his will?
(a) Rules.
(b) Steel pipes.
(c) Nature.
(d) Religion.

11. What is the title of the fourth essay is Zadie Smith’s collection Intimations?
(a) A Conversation between Jesus and Mel Gibson.
(b) A Conversation with Jesus.
(c) Suffering like Jesus.
(d) Suffering like Mel Gibson.

12. What flowers does Smith wish she was looking at instead of peonies?
(a) Daffodils.
(b) Lupines.
(c) Roses.
(d) Tulips.

13. Which type of person does Smith say was overjoyed with the new free time at the start of the pandemic?
(a) Artists without children.
(b) Artists with children.
(c) Children of artists.
(d) People living alone in city apartments.

14. Though the “bubble” of privilege can be penetrated, what bubble does Smith say cannot be penetrated?
(a) Inadequate education.
(b) Self-hate.
(c) Isolation.
(d) Suffering.

15. Who is the author of the essay “Peonies”?
(a) Zinnia Smith.
(b) Zora Smith.
(c) Zelda Smith.
(d) Zadie Smith.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What does Smith say “demanded a new dawn” (11)?

3. While looking on at the garden, Smith thinks of a quote by Nabokov regarding his inspiration for which novel?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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