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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Morrison teach?
(a) American Literature.
(b) Racial Studies.
(c) Women's studies.
(d) English composition.

2. What does The Words to Say It document about the author?
(a) The author's therapy and healing.
(b) The author's feelings about Africanist literature.
(c) The author's relationship.
(d) The author's literary criticism of literature.

3. Morrison claims that she does not want to replace what with Afrocentric domination?
(a) American.
(b) White.
(c) Literature.
(d) Eurocentric.

4. What does Morrison claim that critics do not say about Sapphira and the Slave Girl?
(a) Why it was written.
(b) Why it is successful.
(c) Why it is a failure.
(d) Why people read it.

5. Which word best describes Sapphira?
(a) Intelligent.
(b) Desperate.
(c) Wicked.
(d) Benevolent.

6. What is the main theme in Sapphira and the Slave Girl?
(a) Spite.
(b) Love.
(c) Power.
(d) Trust.

7. What hidden signals does Morrison look for?
(a) Africanization.
(b) Racial superiority.
(c) An author's true feelings about people.
(d) Genderization.

8. Who is Sapphira jealous of?
(a) Her daughter.
(b) Her slave.
(c) Her mother.
(d) Her sister.

9. According to Morrison, what do reading and writing require?
(a) Alertness.
(b) Perseverance.
(c) Fear.
(d) Anger.

10. What does Morrison consider the consequences of?
(a) Exemplary black and white characters.
(b) Racial profiling in literature.
(c) Literary whiteness and blackness.
(d) Literary feminism.

11. What does Morrison argue for extending?
(a) The study of racial interactions.
(b) The study of American literature.
(c) The study of African literature.
(d) The study of racism.

12. Which of the following best describes Marie Cardinal?
(a) Sensitive and young.
(b) White and privileged.
(c) Small and crass.
(d) Stressed and insane.

13. Where does Morrison claim to apply the knowledge in Playing in the Dark?
(a) The class she teaches.
(b) The way she argues.
(c) The way she communicates.
(d) The way she reads.

14. Which of the following does Morrison acknowledge?
(a) That each writer tries to avoid writing about race.
(b) That each author is biased.
(c) That each reader is looking for something different.
(d) That each reader reads differently.

15. What is American literature described as being in Playing in the Dark?
(a) A closet.
(b) A treasure trove.
(c) A bookshelf.
(d) A melting pot.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Morrison's point of view, what does the fabrication of an Africanist presence a reflexive mediation on?

2. Which author does Morrison mention first as containing black references?

3. How does Morrison feel about the scholar who deemed the term "darky" acceptable?

4. What notion must a writer be aware of when reading and writing?

5. What does Morrison claim has impoverished literature?

(see the answer keys)

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