➾ At age eight, she was partially blinded in her right eye by a BB gun pellet fired by her brother.
➾ The partial blindness caused immense psychological isolation, leading her to retreat, read, and begin writing.
➾ Leaving for college, she refused to move and deliberately sat in the front section of the segregated Greyhound bus.
➾ Her sharecropper father once remarked that she was “wonderful at math but a terrible farmer”.
➾ Her mother, earning less than $20 a week as a maid, provided her with a nice suitcase, a typewriter, and a sewing machine, symbolizing self-sufficiency and permission to travel.
➾ Her mother, usually soft-tempered at home, showed quick, violent temper only when battling the white landlord who suggested her children should not attend school.
➾ She found her college education unfulfilling because the curriculum focused on a white literary canon, ignoring major Black writers.
➾ While pregnant during her junior/senior year travels, she became suicidal, kept a razor blade beneath her pillow, and practiced slitting her wrists before having an abortion.
➾ The profound emotional anguish from that experience led directly to her writing the poetry published in her first collection, Once.
➾ She moved to a rural farm outside San Francisco because the hustle and bustle of the city prevented her characters from emerging, needing a setting like rural Georgia to write.
➾ In later years, she was accused of antisemitism due to her support for conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier David Icke.
Alice Walker MCQs
1. When was Alice Walker born?
A. March 15, 1947
B. February 9, 1944
C. January 1, 1944
D. December 25, 1945
B. February 9, 1944
2. In which county and state was Alice Walker born?
A. Fulton County, Alabama
B. New York County, New York
C. Putnam County, Georgia
D. Jackson County, Mississippi
C. Putnam County, Georgia
3. What was Alice Walker’s father’s occupation?
A. Teacher
B. Sharecropper
C. Lawyer
D. Social Worker
B. Sharecropper
4. Alice Walker was the eighth and youngest child of her parents. How many children did her parents have in total?
A. Five
B. Seven
C. Eight
D. Three
C. Eight
5. What was Alice Walker blinded in her right eye by while playing with her brother?
A. A stone
B. A toy arrow
C. A BB gun pellet
D. A shard of glass
C. A BB gun pellet
6. In what year did Alice Walker suffer the injury that partially blinded her in one eye?
A. 1944
B. 1952
C. 1961
D. 1965
B. 1952
7. How old was Alice Walker when she was partially blinded in one eye?
A. Four years old
B. Eight years old
C. Six years old
D. Twelve years old
B. Eight years old
8. Alice Walker stated that the eye injury caused her to retreat into solitude and start doing what activity?
A. Working on the farm
B. Learning mathematics
C. Travelling far from home
D. Reading stories and beginning to write
D. Reading stories and beginning to write
9. Approximately how much did Alice Walker’s mother earn weekly as a maid/domestic worker to help pay for college?
A. Fifty dollars
B. Seventeen dollars
C. Thirty dollars
D. One hundred dollars
B. Seventeen dollars
10. Which college did Alice Walker attend for two years, starting in 1961, before receiving a scholarship to Sarah Lawrence College?
A. Jackson State College
B. Tougaloo College
C. Wellesley College
D. Spelman College
D. Spelman College
11. What “prestigious school” did Alice Walker receive a scholarship to attend after two years at Spelman College?
A. Harvard University
B. Oxford College
C. Sarah Lawrence College
D. Atlanta University
C. Sarah Lawrence College
12. In what year was Alice Walker invited to the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?
A. 1944
B. 1962
C. 1965
D. 1970
B. 1962
13. In what year did Alice Walker graduate from college?
A. 1962
B. 1965
C. 1970
D. 1968
B. 1965
14. What two professions did Alice Walker initially pursue after graduating in 1965?
A. Librarian and Editor
B. Social worker and teacher
C. Lawyer and Journalist
D. Poet and Farmhand
B. Social worker and teacher
15. As a writer in residence, Walker taught poetry at which two institutions?
A. Sarah Lawrence and Spelman College
B. Jackson State College and Tougaloo College
C. Wellesley College and University of Massachusetts, Boston
D. New York University and Atlanta University
B. Jackson State College and Tougaloo College
16. Which “groundbreaking feminist magazine” did Alice Walker contribute to in the late 60s and later serve as a contributing editor for?
A. Essence
B. Ebony
C. The New York Times
D. Ms. magazine
D. Ms. magazine
17. Which unappreciated African-Américan author did Alice Walker write a piece about for Ms. magazine?
A. Toni Morrison
B. Gwendolyn Brooks
C. Zora Neale Hurston
D. Margaret Walker
C. Zora Neale Hurston
18. What was the title of Alice Walker’s first novel, published in 1970?
A. Meridian
B. The Color Purple
C. Everyday Use
D. The Third Life of Grange Copeland
D. The Third Life of Grange Copeland
19. In what year was Alice Walker’s second novel, Meridian, published?
A. 1970
B. 1976
C. 1982
D. 1985
B. 1976
20. What novel, published in 1982, earned Alice Walker the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction?
A. The Third Life of Grange Copeland
B. Meridian
C. The Color Purple
D. In Love and Trouble
C. The Color Purple
21. Who played the protagonist, Celie Harris, in the acclaimed 1985 film adaptation of The Color Purple?
A. Cicely Tyson
B. Oprah Winfrey
C. Whoopi Goldberg
D. Halle Berry
C. Whoopi Goldberg
22. Who directed the 1985 film adaptation of The Color Purple?
A. Spike Lee
B. Steven Spielberg
C. Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal
D. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
B. Steven Spielberg
23. What theme, along with racism, sexism, and violence, traces Celie’s life in The Color Purple?
A. Wealth
B. Political ambition
C. Urbanisation
D. Poverty
D. Poverty
24. Which short story by Alice Walker is specifically mentioned as being found in many popular anthologies of American fiction and poetry?
A. In Love & Trouble
B. Everyday Use
C. The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart
D. To Hell with Dying
B. Everyday Use
25. When Walker left home for Spelman college, which object did her mother give her that symbolized ‘self-sufficiency’?
A. A suitcase
B. A typewriter
C. A sewing machine
D. A Bible
C. A sewing machine
26. What message did the gift of the suitcase convey to Alice Walker?
A. Write letters frequently
B. Permission to travel
C. Remember your roots
D. Keep your clothes neat
B. Permission to travel
27. According to Alice Walker, what message did the gift of the typewriter clearly state?
A. Earn money
B. Go write
C. Study hard
D. Become a teacher
B. Go write
28. Alice Walker’s mother occasionally showed her “quick, violent temper” when battling with which person?
A. Willie Lee Walker (her father)
B. The white landlord
C. The police
D. The college dean
B. The white landlord
29. As a poor sharecropper, Alice Walker’s father was forced to subsist on as little as how much money annually?
A. Three thousand dollars
B. Three hundred dollars
C. Twenty dollars
D. Five hundred dollars
B. Three hundred dollars
30. What was Alice Walker’s primary complaint about her college education?
A. The curriculum was too difficult
B. There were too few black students
C. The focus was on a white literary canon
D. The professors were discouraging
C. The focus was on a white literary canon
31. While in college, Alice Walker realized that there are definite links between which two concepts?
A. Science and philosophy
B. Economics and poverty
C. Art and politics
D. Religion and history
C. Art and politics
32. What specific commitment did Alice Walker state about her writing, beyond surviving whole of her people?
A. To explore the role of religion in the South
B. To document historical farming practices
C. To exploring the oppressions, the insanities, the loyalties, and the triumphs of black women
D. To write poetry exclusively
C. To exploring the oppressions, the insanities, the loyalties, and the triumphs of black women
33. Which author did Alice Walker refer to as her “literary progeniter”?
A. Flannery O’Connor
B. Langston Hughes
C. Zora Neale Hurston
D. Gwendolyn Brooks
C. Zora Neale Hurston
34. Which novel by Zora Neale Hurston, published in 1937, had an impact on Alice Walker?
A. Mules and Men
B. Their Eyes Were Watching God
C. Jonah’s Gourd Vine
D. Moses, Man of the Mountain
B. Their Eyes Were Watching God
35. When Alice Walker referred to Zora Neale Hurston as a “cultural revolutionary,” what did she say Hurston gave us?
A. Economic stability
B. A new type of feminism
C. Racial health; a sense of Black people as complete, complex, undiminished human beings
D. A focus on the literary canon
C. Racial health; a sense of Black people as complete, complex, undiminished human beings
36. What was the title of Alice Walker’s first published collection of poetry, released in 1968?
A. Revolutionary Petunias
B. Once
C. Hard Times Require Furious Dancing
D. Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth
B. Once
37. Who was Alice Walker’s first husband, whom she married in 1967?
A. Steven Spielberg
B. Willie Lee Walker
C. David Icke
D. Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal
D. Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal
38. What was the title of Alice Walker’s first published essay?
A. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
B. Zora Neale Hurston: A Cautionary Tale and A Partisan View
C. Civil Rights Movement: What Good Was It?
D. One Child of One’s Own”
C. Civil Rights Movement: What Good Was It?
39. What is the name of Alice Walker and Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal’s daughter?
A. Celie Harris
B. Minnie Tallulah
C. Rebecca Grant
D. Ahurole
C. Rebecca Grant
40. What was one of Alice Walker’s concerns about motherhood, which she expressed in “One Child of One’s Own”?
A. That it would require her to quit teaching
B. That the quality of her writing would be considerably diminished
C. That her husband would leave her
D. That she would move far from the South
B. That the quality of her writing would be considerably diminished
41. In what year did Alice Walker and Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal divorce?
A. 1967
B. 1970
C. 1976
D. 1982
C. 1976
42. Where did Alice Walker move after her divorce, seeking a writing environment similar to rural Georgia, where she wrote The Color Purple?
A. Atlanta
B. New York
C. A farm outside San Francisco
D. Mississippi
C. A farm outside San Francisco
43. Which of the following works, published in 1973, is a collection of Alice Walker’s short stories?
A. Revolutionary Petunias
B. Once
C. In Love and Trouble
D. The Color Purple
C. In Love and Trouble
44. Which of the following is Alice Walker’s second collection of short stories, published in 1981?
A. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
B. You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down
C. The Third Life of Grange Copeland
D. The Way Forward Is with a Broken Heart
B. You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down
45. The critics frequently questioned why which short story collection was “consistently less satisfying” than In Love & Trouble?
A. Once
B. The Third Life of Grange Copeland
C. You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down
D. Everyday Use
C. You Can’t Keep a Good Woman Down
46. Alice Walker’s short story collection In Love & Trouble uses an epigraph extracted from which novel?
A. Meridian
B. The Color Purple
C. The Concubine by Elechi Amadi
D. Their Eyes Were Watching God
C. The Concubine by Elechi Amadi
47. Which 1992 novel by Alice Walker centered its narrative on female genital mutilation?
A. The Temple of My Familiar
B. Possessing the Secret of Joy
C. By the Light of My Father’s Smile
D. Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart
B. Possessing the Secret of Joy
48. What is the title of Alice Walker’s 1983 essay collection, which she called “womanist prose”?
A. Sent by Earth
B. We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For
C. The Cushion in the Road
D. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
D. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens
49. In In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens, how did Alice Walker define the term “womanist”?
A. A woman dedicated solely to household chores
B. A politically neutral woman
C. A black feminist or feminist of color
D. A woman dedicated to white literature
C. A black feminist or feminist of color
50. In later years, Alice Walker attracted accusations of antisemitism due to her support of which controversial figure?
A. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
B. Steven Spielberg
C. David Icke
D. Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal
B. Talkingtree. She took the new name Kate Talkingtree, which suited her feeling of slowness. This new name symbolized her desire for deep wisdom and profound connection to nature.
2. What revolution did the Buddhist teacher, “Mr. Clean,” promote?
A. Hot
B. Cool
C. Military
D. Economic
B. Cool. The teacher maintained that the only revolution that could succeed was the “cool” one. This suggested a revolution focused on inner peace and deliberate, calm psychological transformation.
3. What did Kate notice about most of the meditators?
A. Mostly Asian
B. Overwhelmingly white
C. Very poor
D. Very smug
B. Overwhelmingly white. She noted that the retreat meditators were overwhelmingly white and middle- to upper-middle-class. This observation highlighted the socioeconomic and racial privilege present at the retreat.
4. What animal did Kate dream was frozen in her freezer?
A. Cobra
B. Python
C. Anaconda
D. Crocodile
C. Anaconda. She dreamed of an alive but perfectly frozen, huge orange and spotted anaconda snake. This symbolized her repressed, powerful inner issues that remained unsolved.
5. What was Kate’s major realization after dreaming of the anaconda?
A. She needed money
B. It was an inside job
C. She needed a therapist
D. It must be killed
B. It was an inside job. She realized that dealing with the anaconda—her internal issues—was an inside job. External solutions would not solve her deep, personal, psychological and spiritual problems.
6. What was the man thinking about before he put the snake in his bosom?
A. Danger
B. Christ’s actions
C. Escape
D. His wife
B. Christ’s actions. The man thought for five or ten minutes about what Christ would do before helping the snake. This showed his attempt to act from a profound sense of Christian charity.
7. Why did the snake bite the man who warmed it?
A. It was starving
B. It was its nature
C. It wanted revenge
D. The man scared it
B. It was its nature. The snake shrugged, justifying the bite by saying the man knew it was a snake. This confirmed the belief that one should not betray one’s essential nature.
8. What part of Kate’s body began creaking in her 57th year?
A. Hips
B. Neck
C. Knees
D. Shoulders
C. Knees. In her fifty-seventh year, both of her knees began creaking like unoiled door hinges. This physical sign indicated the profound wear and tear of her many years.
9. What did the knee specialist recommend, besides stretching?
A. Surgery
B. Orthotics
C. Meditation
D. Weight loss
B. Orthotics. The specialist advised Kate to stretch every morning and invest in orthotics for better balance. These physical aids were prescribed to help alleviate her joint pain.
10. Where were Kate’s parents’ photographs placed when she dismantled her altar?
A. Rolled up
B. Facing the wall
C. Burned
D. Gifted away
B. Facing the wall. She took them down and placed them on the floor, facing the mud-colored wall. This symbolic act was a crucial part of dismantling her old psychological altar.
11. What did Kate ceremonially burn to prove they were not her God/Goddess?
A. Old clothes
B. Writing and money
C. Pictures
D. Journals
B. Writing and money. She burned some of her old writing and several hundred-dollar bills ceremonially. This sacrifice was an attempt to confront her old worship of money and her intellectual life.
12. What was the condition of the river in Kate’s recurring dream?
A. Too cold
B. Flooded
C. Dry (sand)
D. Polluted
C. Dry (sand). She dreamed that after a long search, the river she found would be dry sand. This symbolized the emotional barrenness and spiritual drought she felt in her life.
13. What part of the Colorado River journey was Kate not prepared for?
A. The swiftness
B. The rapids
C. The cold
D. The long duration
B. The rapids. She was shocked when reading the material to find that mighty twenty-foot rapids were involved. This was the intense, physical danger she had underestimated greatly.
14. What internal release caused Kate’s high fever and intense retching?
A. Fear
B. Swallowed words
C. Anger
D. Old guilt
B. Swallowed words. Her sickness was caused by a massive accumulation of words swallowed over a lifetime. This suggests that her illness was a psychological and spiritual purging of unexpressed thoughts.
15. What did Kate throw up that symbolized a past disappointment?
A. Sand
B. Artificial flowers
C. Teacups
D. Old food
B. Artificial flowers. She threw up rotten, artificial white flowers from a serving dish, symbolizing disappointment. This object represented the false spiritual nourishment she had consumed in the past.
16. What yellow flower helped calm Kate’s stomach issues?
A. Daisy
B. Wild chamomile
C. Desert thistleweed
D. Sunflower
C. Desert thistleweed. Sue identified the stomach-calming flower that Kate chewed as desert thistleweed. This natural remedy helped her manage the severe physical symptoms of her emotional sickness.
17. What object was the husband carrying when he pushed Kate on the trail?
A. A gun
B. A notebook
C. A backpack
D. A child
B. A notebook. A man in another couple carried a notebook, but Kate’s husband was empty-handed when he pushed her. The notebook represented the husband’s intellectual distance and failure to engage.
18. What realization freed Kate regarding her former marriage after the physical assault?
A. She should kill him
B. There was no return
C. She still loved him
D. She was too passive
B. There was no return. Lying beneath him, she realized, “There’s no return from this, no way we will ever come back”. This brutal realization was the necessary trigger for her psychological freedom.
19. What did Anne-Marion say to Meridian regarding her illness?
A. You are obsolete
B. I forgive you
C. You are sick
D. You are lying
A. You are obsolete. Anne-Marion told Meridian, “I can not afford to love you. Like the idea of suffering itself, you are obsolete”. This cruel comment showed her rejection of Meridian’s burdens.
20. Why did Kate say she stopped coloring her gray hair?
A. Too expensive
B. Too humiliating
C. Too tired
D. Too hard
B. Too humiliating. She began to feel humiliated, finding the coloring process was abusing herself. This realization was part of her journey toward radical self-acceptance and authenticity.
21. What book did Yolo receive yearly from Kate to address his clutter?
A. The Art of Tidying
B. Clear Your Clutter
C. Feng Shui Now
D. Living Simply
B. Clear Your Clutter. Kate gave him the book Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui for Kwanza every year. This was a humorous attempt to help Yolo manage his material and psychological mess.
22. Why did Yolo keep his clocks despite their broken batteries?
A. For the sound
B. To preserve time
C. As art
D. To fix later
B. To preserve time. He kept buying them because he was attempting to preserve time and hoard it. This obsession symbolized his fear of the past and the finality of death.
23. What color did Yolo reference O’Keeffe saying would remain after destruction?
A. Red
B. Brown
C. Blue
D. White
C. Blue. O’Keeffe stated that blue is the color that will remain after everything else is destroyed. This reflected Yolo’s own spiritual quest for eternal truth and freedom.
24. What was Yolo’s immediate reaction after his dream about the river?
A. Sadness
B. Crying
C. Jubilant shouting
D. Anger
C. Jubilant shouting. He shouted “Hallelujah” and was jubilant, realizing he had joined Kate’s journey. The river dream was a profound spiritual signal for his own life’s calling.
25. What was the name of Alma’s son who died from overdose?
A. Poi
B. Marshall
C. Jerry
D. Saul
B. Marshall. Alma’s son, whose body Yolo sat beside, died from an overdose; his name was Marshall. This tragedy highlighted the severe drug problems on the island.
26. What drug was Marshall addicted to?
A. Heroin
B. Ice
C. Cocaine
D. Opium
B. Ice. Marshall died from an overdose of Ice (Crystal methamphetamine), which swamps the island. This specific addiction reveals the drug crisis facing the community.
27. What was Alma’s profession, for which she earned a degree?
A. Hula dancer
B. Real estate agent
C. Architecture
D. Anthropology
C. Architecture. Alma earned an architecture degree and wanted to build houses that breathe. Her goal was to create spaces that fostered spiritual health and life for others.
28. What was Alma’s “ceremonial gear” worn to acknowledge her father’s influence?
A. Black boots
B. Motorcycle jacket
C. Red lei
D. Haku lei
B. Motorcycle jacket. She wore her father’s brown leather bomber jacket for special occasions. This piece of clothing symbolized her father’s protective influence and presence in her life.
29. What Polynesian group’s tradition did Aunty Pearlua explain?
A. Kahunas
B. Samoans
C. Mahus
D. Tahitians
C. Mahus. Aunty Pearlua explained the ancient traditions and vow of the Mahus, born as males. This detailed explanation was a moment of cultural sharing and education.
30. Why did Mahus vow to live openly as women?
A. They liked clothes
B. To protect children
C. To restore woman’s rightful place
D. To avoid war
C. To restore woman’s rightful place. They vowed to live as women until woman was restored to her rightful place and power. This was a deep commitment to spiritual and gender balance in their culture.
31. What profession was the Shaman Armando Juarez?
A. Old and haggard
B. Young and jolly
C. Tall and gloomy
D. Thin and fearful
B. Young and jolly. Kate was surprised that the shaman, Armando, was in his forties, jolly, and nimble. This youthful and positive appearance defied her expectations of a traditional shaman.
32. Why did Armando require “no sex” during the Ayahuasca retreat?
A. Too much effort
B. To avoid desire’s distraction
C. Jealous medicine
D. Grandmother is not sexy
B. To avoid desire’s distraction. It is required to pay respect and have an experience of the soul undistracted by desire. This rule ensured a focus on the intense spiritual journey of the Ayahuasca medicine.
33. What was Kate’s primary emotion when she learned indigenous people willingly took the ghastly-tasting medicine?
A. Disgust
B. Admiration/Love
C. Pity
D. Fear
B. Admiration/Love. Despite the repulsive taste, she thought, “How could she not love these people?”. This showed her immediate admiration for their courage and spiritual dedication.
34. What physical ailment did Lalika suffer from and need help with?
A. Illness
B. Guilt over murder
C. Relationship problems
D. Drug addiction
B. Guilt over murder. Kate knew Lalika was a murderer and was seeking help for her extreme distress. Her internal torment was the primary spiritual ailment requiring the Ayahuasca ceremony.
35. What did Lalika tell Kate she needed the most help with?
A. Money
B. Feeling like herself again
C. Forgiving her captors
D. Finding God
B. Feeling like herself again. Lalika confessed, “I miss myself so much,” saying she needed to feel like herself again. This longing for her original self was her deepest need.
36. Why did Kate’s slave ancestor, Remus, have his teeth pulled out?
A. He was starving
B. Punishment for admiring himself
C. Punishment for rape
D. For his beauty
B. Punishment for admiring himself. The master, who was jealous and impotent, had Remus’s perfect teeth pulled out with pliers. This was a brutal punishment for Remus’s self-love and dignity.
37. What physical object restored Remus’s teeth in Kate’s dream?
A. A bone
B. A piece of iron
C. A hard ear of corn
D. A gold coin
C. A hard ear of corn. Kate insisted Remus bite a hard, dry ear of corn, which caused the kernels to attach to his gums. This dream-act was a powerful symbol of spiritual healing.
38. What did Remus say was the purpose of the ancestors’ job?
A. To seek healing
B. To tell their stories
C. To remind descendants how not to be
D. To demand reparations
C. To remind descendants how not to be. Our job is to remind you of ways you do not want to be, Remus told Kate. The ancestors’ suffering serves as a crucial moral lesson for the living.
39. What ritual did Lalika and her friend adopt for spiritual support in prison?
A. Praying to Jesus
B. Praying to Saartjie Bartmann
C. Reading the Bible
D. Chanting
B. Praying to Saartjie Bartmann. Lalika and her friend began praying to Saartjie, whom they designated a saint. This cultural act showed their search for spiritual strength in a traumatic environment.
40. What did Lalika say was the meaning of her rapist wanting a “nigger”?
A. He was a racist
B. He wanted a perpetual victim
C. He needed excitement
D. He was lost
B. He wanted a perpetual victim. He thought he needed a perpetual victim to feel like a winner and to fully experience himself. This showed the profound psychological damage and pathology of the rapist.
41. What did Kate realize about her father’s devotion to her?
A. He felt guilt
B. She was not his biological child
C. He was abusive
D. He wanted loyalty
B. She was not his biological child. She became certain that she was not her father’s biological child. This profound realization freed her to see his devotion as a deliberate, spiritual choice, not a biological mandate.
42. What did Yolo use to distract himself from smoking?
A. Painting
B. Reading
C. Exercise and long naps
D. Chewing gum
C. Exercise and long naps. Yolo found that if he did laps, used the treadmill, and took long naps, he could cope. This physical regimen was his strategy for managing his addiction and anxiety.
43. What was the real reason Yolo vowed to quit smoking?
A. To save money
B. To stay cute
C. As a strategy for survival
D. To please Kate
C. As a strategy for survival. He took a vow with other brothers to set a clean, extreme example for the youth. This act was a strategy for communal spiritual survival and setting a positive example.
44. What tattoo did Yolo get that represented worlds and water?
A. Serpent
B. Wave lines
C. A heart
D. A bear paw
B. Wave lines. He got a tattoo of four curving blue lines representing the four connected worlds/waters. This symbol showed his commitment to a holistic, spiritual reality beyond the material world.
45. What did Armando say was the medicine to cure invisibility among the powerful?
A. Shame
B. Tears
C. Forgiveness
D. Violence
B. Tears. Armando suggested that tears are the only medicine that cures invisibility among the powerful. Tears force the hidden emotional reality of the powerful into the open world.
46. What three colors did Armando say the evolving soul must “eat”?
A. Red, Blue, Green
B. Earth, Blood, Water
C. Yellow, Purple, White
D. Tan, Maroon, Blue
B. Earth, Blood, Water. The colors are earth (dirt/browns), menstrual blood (reds/maroons), and water/space (blue). These three colors represent the fundamental elements of the soul’s transformative journey.
47. What does the color blue symbolize for the soul, according to Armando?
A. Healing
B. Freedom/Infinite
C. Sadness
D. Wealth
B. Freedom/Infinite. Blue suggests the infinite, and the soul wants to live there because it is the freest place. This color represents the ultimate destination of spiritual liberation.
48. What was Grandmother’s ultimate response when Kate wailed she was absent?
A. You are wrong
B. But you are
C. I am busy
D. Be silent
B. But you are. When Kate wailed, “Oh, Grandmother, you are not here!” she replied: “But you are”. This paradox revealed that the ancestor’s spirit was always present within Kate.
49. How did Kate respond to the serpent’s suggestion to deal with fear?
A. Make friends with it
B. Run away
C. Spray poison
D. Ignore it
A. Make friends with it. The serpent smiled benignly and instructed Kate to deal with fear by befriending it. This was a challenging piece of advice for confronting psychological obstacles.
50. What did Kate and Yolo agree they would focus on for their celebratory wedding?
A. Long gowns
B. The feast, circle, and stories
C. The legal contracts
D. Religious rituals
B. The feast, circle, and stories. They agreed to focus on the feast, the circle, the stories, and the dance for their celebration. This emphasized communal, spiritual, and artistic elements over traditional legalism.
Brief Overview
Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart is a novel by Alice Walker. It tells the story of Kate Nelson, a successful Black author who lives in California. The novel focuses on Kate’s personal journey of self-discovery and spiritual healing.
Kate is unhappy and feels emotionally frozen after a long relationship ends. She decides she must make a major change in her life. She chooses to leave California to travel to the Amazon rainforest in South America.
Her journey is part physical and part spiritual. She seeks to reconnect with nature and with the wisdom of indigenous cultures. While there, she meets a spiritual guide and shaman named Yolanda.
Yolanda helps Kate confront the emotional scars from her past. Kate learns about the healing power of the earth and the importance of opening herself up to love and vulnerability. The novel emphasizes themes of environmentalism, women’s spirituality, and self-acceptance.
Kate’s quest for healing involves both pain and enlightenment. By the end of the novel, Kate has begun to shed her fear and emotional armor. She accepts the necessity of change and finds a deeper sense of peace and wholeness. The title itself serves as the novel’s central theme and message.
