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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 7: Part II--God’s Language, including the essays “The Trouble with Paradise” through “Faulkner and Woman”.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Morrison say is at its greatest height since the time of the slave trade?
(a) Globalism.
(b) Legislative attempts to integrate newcomers.
(c) The opening of boarders.
(d) The mass movement of people.

2. Which is the best definition of "churlish" as used in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?
(a) Rude, mean-spirited.
(b) Innocent, childlike.
(c) Remote, unobtainable.
(d) Scholarly, didactic.

3. In "Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.," what does Morrison say she wonders about MLK?
(a) Where he found his courage.
(b) Whether he would be disappointed in her.
(c) Whether he would be satisfied with the progress Americans have made.
(d) How he preserved his sense of hope.

4. Why is "panoply" a clever piece of diction as used in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken"?
(a) It has a secondary meaning that has to do with arms and armor.
(b) It has negative connotations that support the irony in the essay's tone.
(c) It is another pun, echoing the essay's opening.
(d) It is part of the alliteration that creates rhythm in the passage.

5. In "Black Matter(s)," Morrison speculates that slaves offered white Americans a sense of what?
(a) Permissiveness and freedom lacking in the Europe of that time.
(b) Power and authority they had been denied in Europe.
(c) Being monitored by their social inferiors.
(d) Religious duty to the oppressed.

Short Answer Questions

1. "The War on Error" is a speech given to what group?

2. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison posits that the "Lone" Ranger is "lone" because of what?

3. In "Cinderella's Stepsisters," Morrison's central claim is that women should not do what?

4. What form of literature does Morrison discuss at length in "Black Matter(s)"?

5. What does the title "Academic Whispers" refer to?

(see the answer key)

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