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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison proposes that the third response to chaos is what?
(a) Laughter.
(b) Hierarchy.
(c) Stillness.
(d) Genocide.

2. In "Hard, True, and Lasting," Morrison says that what feeling is the first one writers feel when they begin to write?
(a) Separateness.
(b) Independence.
(c) Gratitude.
(d) Love.

3. In "Grendel and His Mother," what claim does Morrison make for Beowulf?
(a) It equals our modern knowledge of reality.
(b) It functions as a mirror for our own time.
(c) It is an artifact of an irrelevant time.
(d) It exposes how values have shifted in Western culture.

4. In "Invisible Ink," what word does Morrison object to when it is applied to reading?
(a) Participation.
(b) Challenge.
(c) Art.
(d) Pleasure.

5. In "God's Language," what does Morrison say is the place of religion in African American culture?
(a) Its influence has weakened significantly.
(b) It's a powerful example of the merging of African culture with European culture.
(c) It is central to the culture.
(d) It historically marginalized Black people.

6. In "The Site of Memory," what tactic does Morrison point out in slave narratives?
(a) Creating audience sympathy through obvious appeals to pathos.
(b) Engaging the audience through vivid description of slavery's brutality.
(c) Challenging the audience with frequent, pointed rhetorical questions.
(d) Appealing to audience by assuming the reader's nobility and morality.

7. In "The Source of Self-Regard," Morrison writes about not wanting to turn her readers into voyeurs. In this context, the word "voyeur" should be defined how?
(a) Someone who is more confident in their own knowledge than they should be.
(b) Someone afraid of encountering what is new or different.
(c) Someone who gets pleasure from watching something that is private or painful for others.
(d) Someone whose passion outweighs their judgment.

8. Who was James Baldwin?
(a) A writer.
(b) A visual artist.
(c) Toni Morrison's partner.
(d) A civil rights leader.

9. In "Faulkner and Women," what effect does Morrison say Faulkner has had on her writing?
(a) None.
(b) She uses symbolism in a similar way.
(c) Faulkner was the inspiration for Song of Solomon.
(d) He provided an example of how to manipulate language.

10. In "Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison says that there was once a false division of art into what two categories?
(a) Representative and uplifting.
(b) Authentic and corrective.
(c) Universal and transcendent.
(d) Political and beautiful.

11. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," Morrison calls the "merging of forms" one of the key aspects of what literary movement?
(a) Romanticism.
(b) Modernism.
(c) Postmodernism.
(d) The Harlem Renaissance.

12. In "Faulkner and Women," whom does Morrison say she imagines when as a reader when she is writing?
(a) Everyone.
(b) Herself.
(c) Literary critics.
(d) African Americans.

13. In "The Source of Self-Regard," Morrison suggests that one reason that her work is widely taught is that it is what?
(a) A more intimate way of reading history.
(b) Filled with reflection on contemporary social issues.
(c) Challenging to younger readers.
(d) Made to stand in for all of Black literature.

14. In "Faulkner and Women," what does Morrison call the character of Sula?
(a) An artist.
(b) A conqueror.
(c) An adventuress.
(d) A delight.

15. In "Goodbye to All That," Morrison opens with an anecdote about asking an interviewer to omit all questions about what?
(a) Her novels.
(b) Her academic career.
(c) Politics.
(d) Race.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Introduction to Peter Sellars," Morrison praises his work for being what?

2. In "Memory, Creation, and Fiction," Morrison says what of her process of writing Tar Baby?

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

4. In "Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison notes what about African American visual art?

5. In "Unspeakable Things Unspoken," Morrison introduces Rafferty's criticism of Milan Kundera's Eurocentrism because she says that it can do what?

(see the answer keys)

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