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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What is one of the main subjects of Beloved?
2. In "Grendel and His Mother," Morrison notes the significance of what characteristic of Grendel's mother?
3. In "Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes," what element does Morrison say is an aspect of the European American response to chaos lacking in the indigenous response?
4. In "Introduction to Peter Sellars," Morrison says that Sellars wanted what kind of introduction?
5. In "God's Language," what does Morrison say seems more true the longer she writes?
Short Essay Questions
1. According to “The Writer Before the Page," why does Morrison use allusions to folktales in her writing?
2. In “Introduction of Peter Sellars," what are the main points of Morrison's praise for Peter Sellars as an artist?
3. In “The Trouble with Paradise," what does Morrison mean when she says that fiction writers have to stare unblinking into the "realm of difference"?
4. In “Invisible Ink," Morrison proposes that current ways of thinking about the interaction between reader and text are missing an element: the "invisible ink" that can manipulate the reader. Explain what she means by this.
5. According to “The Writer Before the Page," what is the relationship between Hannah Peace and Sula?
6. In “God’s Language," what does Morrison say is the problem with trying to use modern language to describe Biblical concepts?
7. In "On Beloved," Morrison discusses Sula and Beloved in the context of feminism; what is the relationship of these two texts to feminism?
8. In “Rememory," Morrison describes her writing process using memory and explains how it is similar to a thematic and narrative element in one of her books. What is her process, and which book's narrative does she see it reflected in.
9. In “The Source of Self-Regard," what does Morrison say made her uncomfortable about the letters she received from students, and why did it make her feel this way?
10. In “Tribute to Romare Bearden," Morrison praises Bearden's work as a dialogue between artists; how does she see his work impacting her own?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In “Race Matters,” Morrison tries to illustrate her main point with brief analyses of her own works. Summarize what she has to say about her own works and then evaluate how successful she is in accomplishing her goal in offering these analyses.
Essay Topic 2
In “The Nobel Lecture in Literature,” Morrison uses a folktale to structure her lecture. Explain how she interprets and then reinterprets this folktale.
Essay Topic 3
In “Gertrude Stein and the Difference She Makes,” Morrison offers a critique of the relationship of Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe to the natural world. Explain the basis of her critique and evaluate the strength of the evidence she offers in her discussion of each author.
This section contains 995 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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