Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison Study question

Toni Morrison’s Literary Works

Beloved

Facts about Toni Morrison

➾ She was born Chloe Anthony Wofford, later shortening her name to Toni.

➾ Her maternal grandfather, John Solomon Willis, taught himself to read, inspiring her novel Song of Solomon.

➾ In first grade, she was the only African American student and the only child who already knew how to read.

➾ Due to her skill, she often helped the children of new immigrants learn to read in school.

➾ A landlord torched her family’s apartment in 1933 while they were still inside.

➾ Her mother once wrote President Franklin Roosevelt a letter complaining about insect-riddled welfare food.

➾ She changed her first name to Toni at university because classmates struggled to pronounce Chloe.

➾ As a senior editor, she groomed and published major black voices, including Muhammad Ali and Angela Davis.

➾ She wrote her first novel, The Bluest Eye, secretly and compulsively as therapy for depression and isolation.

➾ She became the first African American woman to hold a named chair at an Ivy League university (Princeton).

➾ Her masterpiece, Beloved, was inspired by a nineteenth-century clipping she found while researching The Black Book.

Toni Morrison MCQs

1. When was Chloe Anthony Wofford, later known as Toni Morrison, born?

A. August 5, 1931
B. February 18, 1931
C. March 31, 1938
D. January 26, 1933

B. February 18, 1931
She was born on this date in Lorain, Ohio.

2. Where was Toni Morrison born?

A. New York City, NY
B. Lorain, Ohio
C. Washington, D.C.
D. Syracuse, NY

B. Lorain, Ohio
She was born in this working-class Ohio town.

3. What was Toni Morrison’s birth name?

A. Ramah Willis
B. Toni Wofford
C. Chloe Anthony Wofford
D. Lois Wofford

C. Chloe Anthony Wofford
She adopted ‘Toni’ (from her confirmation name, Anthony) in college.

4. What novel was based on the short story Toni Morrison wrote while married to Harold Morrison?

A. Song of Solomon
B. Sula
C. Beloved
D. The Bluest Eye

D. The Bluest Eye
The story about a black girl wishing for blue eyes became her 1970 debut novel.

5. Which novel, chronologically, is the last work listed?

A. Home (2012)
B. Love (2003)
C. God Help the Child (2015)
D. A Mercy (2008)

C. God Help the Child (2015)
This novel, published in 2015, was her final novel.

6. What genre is Toni Morrison primarily known for creating a literary language within?

A. Southern Gothic
B. Autobiographical memoirs
C. African American fiction
D. Historical poetry

C. African American fiction
Her work defined the contemporary landscape for black American narrative.

7. For which reason is Toni Morrison considered a major architect in American literature?

A. First black woman to chair at an Ivy League
B. Wrote interracial bestsellers
C. Created a black literary language
D. Was a Random House editor

C. Created a black literary language
Her aesthetic centered the black experience using black vernacular and oral traditions.

8. In what year did Toni Morrison receive the Nobel Prize in Literature?

A. 1987
B. 1992
C. 1993
D. 2012

C. 1993
She became the first African American woman to win the award.

9. Which novel, often considered her masterpiece, won the Pulitzer Prize?

A. Song of Solomon
B. Sula
C. Beloved
D. Tar Baby

C. Beloved
*Beloved* (1987) won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.

10. What nickname have critics given Toni Morrison due to her ability to draw on collective consciousness and oral traditions?

A. The Story Weaver
B. The Midwest Matrix
C. The Literary Archeologist
D. The Conjure Woman

D. The Conjure Woman
This reflects the magical, mythical, and rooted elements of her storytelling.

11. Where did Toni Morrison obtain her B.A. in English in 1953?

A. Cornell University
B. Princeton University
C. Howard University
D. Texas Southern University

C. Howard University
Toni Morrison earned her B.A. in English from Howard University, a historically Black university (HBCU) located in Washington, D.C.

12. What was Toni Morrison’s minor field of study at Howard University?

A. Mathematics
B. African American Studies
C. Classics
D. History

C. Classics
Her study of Greek and Roman classics informed her narrative structures.

13. Which university did Toni Morrison attend to receive her M.A. in English in 1955?

A. Harvard
B. Cornell
C. Yale
D. Princeton

B. Cornell
She earned her Master of Arts degree from Cornell University.

14. What was the focus of Toni Morrison’s master’s degree concentration?

A. Baldwin and Wright
B. Ellison and Hurston
C. Faulkner and Woolf
D. Brown and Locke

C. William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf
Her thesis compared the role of social outsiders in their works.

15. What movement influenced Toni Morrison’s family background, as her grandparents moved out of the South to Ohio?

A. The Harlem Renaissance
B. The Civil Rights Movement
C. The Great Migration
D. Post-Reconstruction

C. The Great Migration
Her family’s move north was part of this mass movement of African Americans.

16. Which grandparent’s life inspired her novel Song of Solomon?

A. John Solomon Willis (maternal)
B. George Wofford (paternal)
C. Ardelia Willis (maternal)
D. George and Ramah Wofford (parents)

A. Her maternal grandfather, John Solomon Willis.
The novel’s character searches for his great-grandfather, named Solomon.

17. Where did Morrison first work as an associate editor at Random House in 1964?

A. Lorain, Ohio
B. Syracuse, New York
C. Washington, D.C.
D. Albany, New York

B. Syracuse, New York
She started her editorial career in Syracuse after her divorce.

18. Toni Morrison left Random House in what year?

A. 1970
B. 1977
C. 1983
D. 1987

C. 1983
She left to focus on her writing and teaching career.

19. Toni Morrison was the first African American woman writer to hold a named chair at which type of institution?

A. A historically black college (HBCU)
B. A major state university
C. An Ivy League university
D. A community college

C. An Ivy League university
She held the Robert F. Goheen Professorship at Princeton University, starting in 1989.

20. What non-fiction work did Morrison publish in 1992?

A. The Black Book
B. Dreaming Emmett
C. Playing in the Dark
D. A Mercy

C. Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
This essay collection explores the role of ‘whiteness’ in American literature.

21. What did essayist Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah credit Morrison with giving Black America?

A. A new language
B. A record of black culture/belonging
C. Escape from Eurocentrism
D. Financial success in literature

B. A record of gesture and custom and being and belonging
This quote emphasizes her role in preserving and affirming black culture.

22. Which politician presented Toni Morrison with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012?

A. President Jimmy Carter
B. President Franklin Roosevelt
C. President Barack Obama
D. President Bill Clinton

C. President Barack Obama
She received this high civilian honor from President Obama.

23. What does Toni Morrison confess to “[thinking]” in her exploration of infanticide in Beloved?

A. The unimaginable
B. The painful past
C. The unthinkable
D. The collective sorrow

C. The unthinkable
She explored the deepest psychological traumas of slavery.

24. What is the central assertion of Toni Morrison’s credo regarding black people?

A. They must strive for advancement
B. They are a marginal group
C. They are people, not aliens
D. They are defined by suffering

C. We are people, not aliens.
This credo emphasizes essential black humanity, rejecting marginalized views.

25. What did Morrison’s parents do for a living?

A. Father (farmer), mother (teacher)
B. Father (welder), mother (choir)
C. Father (sharecropper), mother (homemaker)
D. Parents (academics)

B. Her father was a shipyard welder, and her mother sang in the church choir.
Her parents, George and Ramah Wofford, maintained working-class jobs.

26. Which novel introduced the ambivalent main character Jadine?

A. Sula
B. Tar Baby
C. Jazz
D. Love

B. Tar Baby (1981)
This novel explores the tension between Jadine’s Westernized identity and her roots.

27. What served as a “tightly woven safety net” for Morrison when she was growing up?

A. The multiculturalism of Lorain
B. Her parents’ contrasting racial views
C. The women of the black community
D. Her integrated education

C. The women of the black community.
She cited the strong support from black women as crucial to her upbringing.

28. Which novel, influenced by her father’s death, tells the myth of slaves who fly to Africa?

A. Tar Baby
B. The Bluest Eye
C. Song of Solomon
D. Beloved

C. Song of Solomon
This 1977 novel is dedicated to her father and famously features the myth of the flying African.

29. What was the subject of Toni Morrison’s first novel, The Bluest Eye?

A. The life of an emancipated slave
B. A girl who desires blue eyes
C. A Caribbean island relationship
D. An all-black town in Oklahoma

B. A young girl who loses her mind and desires blue eyes.
The novel explores the internalized racism suffered by the protagonist, Pecola Breedlove.

30. In Beloved, what historical figure inspired the character Sethe?

A. Angela Davis
B. Ramah Willis Wofford
C. Margaret Garner
D. Pecola Breedlove

C. Margaret Garner
Inspired by the real-life story of an enslaved woman who killed her daughter to prevent her return to slavery.

31. In the dedication of Beloved, “sixty million and more” refers to whom?

A. The children of Lorain
B. The victims of slavery
C. The victims of infanticide
D. Those lost in the Great Migration

B. The victims of two centuries of slavery
This acknowledges the uncounted lives lost to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery.

32. What 1974 “folk journey of Black America” did Toni Morrison compile?

A. Sula
B. The Black Book
C. Playing in the Dark
D. Jazz

B. The Black Book
This documentary compilation of black life, from slavery to the 1970s, was edited by Morrison.

33. What did research for The Black Book provide for Morrison’s later fiction?

A. Financial security
B. A cache of motifs, themes, images
C. Her first TV interview
D. Motivation to leave Random House

B. A cache of motifs, themes, and images
The documentation of historical black life served as vital research material.

34. Which novel is primarily set in 1920s Harlem?

A. Paradise
B. Jazz
C. Home
D. Tar Baby

B. Jazz (1992)
This novel focuses on the Harlem Renaissance era and the Great Migration.

35. Which novel explores the all-black town of Ruby, Oklahoma?

A. Beloved
B. Love
C. Paradise
D. A Mercy

C. Paradise (1998)
This novel explores the formation and self-destructive isolation of a Utopian black community.

36. As an editor, Toni Morrison was known for developing which group of writers?

A. European novelists
B. Black authors and figures
C. Midwest regional writers
D. White male critics

B. Black authors and figures
She helped bring black authors (like Angela Davis) to mainstream publishing.

37. What two cultural elements did Morrison draw upon, making her work “fluid and lyrical”?

A. Jazz and European classics
B. Blues and oral tradition/myth
C. Southern customs and Ohio history
D. History and political commentary

B. The blues and oral tradition/myth.
Her style integrates musical and folk forms, distinguishing her work.

38. According to Angela Davis, what did Morrison teach the world to imagine about enslaved people?

A. Their journey to the North
B. Their complex inner lives
C. Horrors of the trans-Atlantic trade
D. Their need for abolitionist aid

B. Their complex subjectivities, with full lives and interiority.
Davis praised Morrison for giving voice and depth to the inner lives of enslaved people.

39. What did Morrison attribute the initial success of The Bluest Eye to?

A. Critical acclaim
B. Company wanted a black writer
C. The compelling subject matter
D. Its inclusion in Redbook

B. The company wanted a black writer in its stable (racial reasons).
She believed her race made her attractive to publishers in that era.

40. How did Morrison handle her Midwestern setting in her writing?

A. Avoided it for the South
B. An escape from stereotyped settings
C. Criticized Lorain’s racism
D. Used it only for early works

B. She stated it was an escape from stereotyped black settings like “plantation nor ghetto”.
Her Ohio setting offered her freedom from the limited expectations placed on black novelists.

41. When Morrison was pursuing her M.A. at Cornell, she concentrated on which two authors?

A. Toni Cade Bambara and Gayl Jones
B. Shakespeare and Hawthorne
C. Faulkner and Woolf
D. Sterling Brown and Alain Locke

C. William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf
Her thesis analyzed the theme of the marginalized outsider in their work.

42. Toni Morrison’s work focuses on blackness and is told in which distinctive style?

A. Academic prose
B. Eurocentric perspective
C. Black vernacular
D. Post-modernism

C. Black vernacular
She deliberately integrated the speech patterns and rhythm of the black oral tradition.

43. Which novel secured Morrison a nomination for the National Book Award in 1974?

A. The Bluest Eye
B. Sula
C. Tar Baby
D. Beloved

B. Sula
This novel about the intense friendship between two black women was nominated in 1975.

44. Which prestigious American award did Song of Solomon win?

A. The Nobel Prize
B. Presidential Medal of Freedom
C. National Book Critics Circle Award
D. The Melcher Book Award

C. The National Book Critics Circle Award (1977).
The novel was a major critical and commercial success, winning this prize.

45. In 1986, Morrison wrote a dramatization about the murder of Emmett Till. What was its title?

A. Storyville
B. Dreaming Emmett
C. The Black Book
D. Home

B. Dreaming Emmett
This play was based on the 1955 murder that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement.

46. What primary theme did Morrison explore in Beloved related to slavery?

A. Psychological effects of racism
B. The paradox of motherhood
C. Failures of the Abolitionist Movement
D. The search for black identity

B. The paradox of motherhood within slavery.
The novel focuses on the impossible choices faced by enslaved mothers.

47. Critic Nellie Y. McKay compared Morrison’s control of inner dialogue to which authors?

A. Maya Angelou and Alice Walker
B. James Joyce and William Faulkner
C. Nikki Giovanni and Angela Davis
D. Homer and Virgil

B. To James Joyce and William Faulkner.
McKay noted her modernist mastery of stream-of-consciousness.

48. When Morrison’s mother expressed alarm about her move, what did Morrison reply about community?

A. I will return soon.
B. “You take the village with you”
C. I will find a new community.
D. My writing will be my community.

B. “You take the village with you. There is no need for the community if you have a sense of it inside”.
This reflects her belief that black culture is internalized and transportable.

49. Morrison’s ability to draw on a collective consciousness led her to think of her art as what?

A. Experimental
B. Political
C. Autobiographical
D. Marginal

B. Political
She viewed the art of empowering black subjectivities as inherently political.

50. According to the Nobel Foundation, what essential aspect of American reality does Toni Morrison give life to?

A. The struggle for civil rights
B. The literary imagination of the South
C. The history that had been lost
D. An essential aspect of American reality

D. An essential aspect of American reality.
The Nobel Prize cited her work for giving life to “an essential aspect of American reality”.

Love MCQs

1. What was the state of the weather when the girl first arrived in Silk?

A. Light snow
B. Heavy rain
C. Bitter cold
D. Warm sun

C. Bitter cold.
A chafing wind kept the temperature low, tiles of ice formed, and the sun was helpless to warm things.

2. What activity was Sandler Gibbons engaged in when the girl approached him in his driveway?

A. Fixing car
B. Ripping sack
C. Shoveling snow
D. Salting steps

B. Ripping sack.
Sandler Gibbons was standing in his garage door ripping the seam from a sack of Ice-Off.

3. What address did the girl believe was the correct one for the Cosey house?

A. 1410 Monarch
B. 1401 Monarch
C. Old address
D. One Monarch

D. One Monarch.
The girl stated she was looking for the address that matched the advertisement: One Monarch Street.

4. How did Sandler initially compare the size of the Cosey women’s house?

A. Huge castle
B. Big church
C. Modest house
D. Old cabin

B. Big church.
Sandler told the girl to go that way, saying she couldn’t miss it because it was “Big as a church”.

5. What unexpected comparison did Sandler also make about the Cosey house?

A. Grand museum
B. Large jailhouse
C. Scary mansion
D. Empty barracks

B. Large jailhouse.
Sandler Gibbons muttered the comparison, asking, “Or a jailhouse,” right after offering directions.

6. What occupations did Romen’s parents hold after they enlisted?

A. Army, Marines
B. Navy, Air Force
C. Nurses, Pilots
D. Soldiers, sailors

A. Army, Marines.
Romen’s mother was in the army, and his father was in the merchant marines, according to Sandler.

7. What material was Romen’s jacket made of?

A. Heavy wool
B. Cheap leather
C. Canvas strong
D. Warm denim

B. Cheap leather.
Romen was wearing a new leather jacket that he had left at Pretty-Fay’s party three days earlier.

8. What did Vida Gibbons suggest was the primary focus of Sandler’s attention regarding the girl?

A. Her hair
B. Her legs
C. Her voice
D. Her boots

B. Her legs.
Vida teased Sandler, saying he was likely concentrating on the girl’s legs since he mentioned her tiny skirt.

9. Why did Sandler and Vida initially send Romen to work for the Cosey women?

A. Family favor
B. Need a job
C. Teach a lesson
D. Keep him

B. Need job.
They sent Romen to the Coseys’ house because he had been there four months and needed some kind of job.

10. What specific product did Romen note Miss Christine often gave him to eat?

A. Good meat
B. Fresh fruit
C. Something good
D. Hot bread

C. Something good.
Romen defended working there by saying that Miss Christine “always gives me something good to eat”.

11. What belief did Vida hold regarding the death of Bill Cosey?

A. Heart attack
B. Suicide plot
C. Someone killed
D. Sudden illness

C. Someone killed.
Vida strongly believed that Bill Cosey was killed, stating she saw him hale at breakfast and dead by lunch.

12. How did Vida feel Bill Cosey’s influence had positively changed her life?

A. Escaped swamps
B. Found money
C. Got famous
D. Learned cooking

A. Escaped swamps.
Because of Bill Cosey, Vida did not have to keep living over a swamp in a stilt house.

13. What task was the woman in the basement kitchen performing when Junior arrived?

A. Making roux
B. Dequeening scallops
C. Deveining shrimp
D. Cleaning sink

C. Deveining shrimp.
When Junior and Christine sat down, Christine returned to the work of deveining shrimp.

14. What name did the girl give the woman in the kitchen as her preferred alternative?

A. Viviane Jane
B. Junior B
C. Call me June
D. Viviane June

C. Call me June.
Junior offered the woman in the kitchen, Christine, the alternative name of “June, if you want”.

15. Where did Christine direct Junior to go to find Mrs. H. Cosey?

A. Alcove stairs
B. Third floor
C. Back hall
D. Garden apartment

B. Third floor.
Christine motioned Junior up the stairs, then some more stairs, all the way to the top floor.

16. What item of clothing did Junior remove in front of Heed Cosey?

A. Short skirt
B. Leather jacket
C. Tall boots
D. Black T-shirt

B. Leather jacket.
Junior “shouldered out of her jacket,” revealing her black T-shirt underneath, while talking to Heed.

17. What item hung prominently in Heed Cosey’s bedroom, influencing Junior’s dreams?

A. Man’s portrait
B. Old painting
C. Wedding photo
D. Large mirror

A. Man’s portrait.
A portrait of Bill Cosey loomed behind Heed’s bed, which Junior later dreamed about.

18. What characteristic of the man in the portrait was noted by Junior in her dream?

A. Kind eyes
B. Strong back
C. Rough hands
D. Huge smile

A. Kind eyes.
Junior dreamed of the man, noting his “kind eyes that promised to hold a girl steady”.

19. What material was typically worn by women at Cosey’s Resort dance floor?

A. Velvet, silk
B. Moiré, chiffon
C. Leather, suede
D. Cotton, linen

B. Moiré, chiffon.
When the band warmed up, the women appeared dressed in moiré and chiffon.

20. What was the name of Bill Cosey’s son who died from walking pneumonia?

A. Ethan Jr
B. Billy Boy
C. George Raft
D. Meal Daddy

B. Billy Boy.
Bill Cosey mentioned his son, Billy, who died of “Walking pneumonia they call it,” around Sandler’s age.

21. What did Bill Cosey say happened after he lost his son?

A. Found religion
B. Took a long
C. Pretty woman
D. Got divorced

C. Pretty woman.
Bill Cosey said a pretty woman came along after his son’s death, and “the clouds just drifted off”.

22. What item did L use to stop the fight between Heed and Christine at the funeral?

A. Switchblade knife
B. Two words
C. Lily’s funeral
D. Sheer rage

B. Two words.
L restored order at the coffin by hissing “Two words” into the faces of Heed and Christine.

23. What name was given to the children from the Settlement attending District Ten?

A. Untidy youth
B. Poor children
C. Rural term
D. Wild kids

C. Rural term.
Guidance Counselors labeled the strange, unteachable children from the Settlement as “Rurals”.

24. Who was the Settlement girl named Junior actually named after by her mother?

A. Vivian
B. Ethan Payne
C. Junior Smith
D. Peter Paul

A. Vivian.
Junior was the name given by her father, but her mother, Vivian, had meant to name her right away.

25. What did Junior find she could do more easily in her new school environment?

A. Speak up
B. Get friends
C. Avoid peers
D. Find work

A. Speak up.
Junior was the first Rural student to “speak up and make a stab at homework”.

26. What gift did Junior give her friend Peter Paul for Christmas?

A. Pencil box
B. Cottonmouth snake
C. Yellow barrette
D. Sno Balls

B. Cottonmouth snake.
For Christmas, Junior gave Peter Paul a baby cottonmouth curled inside a bottle.

27. What act by her uncles finally caused Junior to run away from the Settlement?

A. Broke crayons
B. Chase her
C. Hand over Vosh
D. Stole the snake

C. Hand over Vosh.
The threat to “hand you over to Vosh” jolted Junior into running up and out the door.

28. How old was Junior when she ran away and began wandering unnoticed?

A. Fourteen years
B. Eleven years
C. Fifteen years
D. Seven years

B. Eleven years.
Junior was eleven years old when she ran away and wandered for weeks without attention.

29. What item did Junior steal that led to her first being taken into custody?

A. G.I. Joe
B. Candy bar
C. Pack of
D. Shoes pair

A. G.I. Joe.
Junior was suddenly noticed and taken into custody when she stole a G.I. Joe doll.

30. What did the woman with the clenched-fisted hands in the wedding photo emphasize?

A. Smiling face
B. Her anger
C. Absence of
D. Clenched hands

C. Absence of.
The woman (May) had clenched hands, which emphasized the absence of a bouquet she did not have.

31. What did Junior suggest might happen if she pleased both Christine and Heed?

A. Stay for
B. Harmony reign
C. Live happily
D. Get money

C. Live happily.
Junior thought that if she pleased both women, they could eventually live happily together.

32. What common items did Junior notice both Heed and Christine regularly purchased?

A. Fine lace
B. Vitamin pills
C. Sanitary napkins
D. Makeup bags

C. Sanitary napkins.
Junior noted that both women regularly bought and wore sanitary napkins, though they were unstained.

33. What did Bill Cosey’s father’s initials (DRC) lead local Negroes to call him?

A. Rich man
B. Boss man
C. Dark name
D. Daniel Boy

C. Dark name.
Daniel Robert Cosey’s initials (DRC) gave rise to the name he was commonly known by: Dark.

34. Who did the original (torn up) will of Bill Cosey leave the majority of his estate to?

A. Christine girl
B. Heed Night
C. Celestial woman
D. Billy Boy

C. Celestial woman.
L reveals that the real will left everything to Celestial, except for one boat given to Sandler.

35. What unique item did L use to take her meals at Maceo’s Cafe Ria?

A. High chair
B. Kitchen stool
C. Rolling cart
D. Wheeled chair

D. Wheeled chair.
Maceo acquired L a high chair with wheels so she could scoot from stove to cutting table.

36. What specific perfume did Dr. Rio consistently give his new mistresses?

A. Jasmine scent
B. White Shoulders
C. Lilac perfume
D. Orange spray

B. White Shoulders.
Dr. Rio gave each new mistress a gift of White Shoulders cologne, symbolizing a new lease.

37. What type of reptile did Christine run over while swerving on Route 12?

A. Rattlesnake
B. Second turtle
C. Copperhead snake
D. Lizard friend

B. Second turtle.
Christine braked for one turtle but drove over a second one trailing the first while swerving right.

38. How many abortions did Christine have during her relationship with Fruit?

A. Four total
B. Three in
C. Seven total
D. Two quick

C. Seven total.
Christine returned to bed after a “routine abortion,” which was noted as the last of seven.

39. What event in their childhood did Christine’s mother set fire to?

A. Heed’s clothes
B. Christine’s bed
C. Old hotel
D. Cosey’s car

B. Christine’s bed.
Cosey’s wife (Heed) had once set fire to Christine’s bed, hoping to keep her out of the house.

40. What action did Bill Cosey take toward Heed during the birthday dinner argument?

A. Spanked her
B. Screamed loudly
C. Grabbed wrist
D. Took keys

A. Spanked her.
When Heed threw the glass, Papa rose, grabbed her arm, put her across his knee, and spanked her.

41. How much older was Christine than Heed?

A. Three years
B. Eight months
C. Two years
D. One year

B. Eight months.
Christine explicitly tells Junior she is Eight months older”.

42. What was Heed’s marital status when Bill Cosey married her?

A. Married once
B. Already spoken
C. Young teenager
D. Virgin child

B. Already spoken.
L observed that Bill Cosey chose a girl who was “already spoken for” (referring to Christine).

43. What was the name of the secret language Heed and Christine invented as children?

A. Speak now
B. Celestial
C. Idagay language
D. Secret code

C. Idagay language.
Heed and Christine invented words for secrets in a language they referred to as “idagay”.

44. What was the common food item L would refuse to eat?

A. Hot dogs
B. Baloney sliced
C. Stewed tomatoes
D. Grits soup

B. Baloney sliced.
Heed and Christine recalled L saying she “wouldn’t go near baloney” during their picnics.

45. What was the first physical act Romen performed for Junior in the bathroom tub?

A. Washed her
B. Raised foot
C. Kissed lips
D. Held her

B. Raised foot.
Romen reached under the water and raised Junior’s misshapen foot, then lifted it to his tongue.

46. What type of container was Heed frantically looking for in the hotel attic?

A. Footlocker box
B. Sugar sack
C. Rinso box
D. Silver tureen

C. Rinso box.
Heed was urgently directing Junior to look for a “big old box with R-I-N-S-O on it”.

47. What did Heed criticize Junior for using when attempting to forge the will?

A. Cheap paper
B. Ballpoint pen
C. Fountain ink
D. Wrong script

B. Ballpoint pen.
Heed insisted Cosey would only use “real ink” and worried the ballpoint pen would mess things up.

48. What item did Christine hold up that distracted Heed from her dictation in the attic?

A. Fountain pen
B. Child’s slip
C. Ball peen
D. Yellow top

C. Ball peen.
Christine found a ball peen hammer, which she used to bang a stud nail into the pineapple can.

49. What item did Christine find in the dresser drawer in the hotel bedroom that belonged to their shared past?

A. Rubber ball
B. Old blanket
C. Five jacks
D. Yellow bathing

C. Five jacks.
In the dresser drawer, Christine found a small cloth pouch which, when emptied, contained five jacks and a ball.

50. What final action did Christine perform for Heed after she fell through the floor?

A. Called an ambulance
B. Covered her
C. Gathered her
D. Cried softly

C. Gathered her.
Christine raced down the ladder and, kneeling, turned and gathered Heed in her arms.

Brief Overview

Love is a novel by Toni Morrison, published in 2003. The novel questions many common societal ideas about love, focusing on complex, non-romantic bonds and the destructive power of long-lasting hatred and betrayal.

The novel is set in a small coastal town. It centers on the intense, long-lasting hatred between two women who live together: Heed Cosey, the wealthy widow of Bill Cosey, and his granddaughter, Christine. They fiercely fight over Cosey’s house and money because he died without a clear will.

Heed married Bill Cosey when she was just a child, about eleven or twelve years old. This marriage ruined her childhood friendship with Christine, and they have hated each other ever since. Heed hires a poor, young girl named Junior as a helper, hoping Junior will help her fake a new will using an old menu.

The rivalry ends violently. Heed and Junior go to Cosey’s closed hotel to find documents. Christine follows them. In the dark attic, Heed falls through the floor and dies. Junior steals the car and runs away.

Romen, a neighbor’s grandson, finds Christine holding Heed’s body. Injured and alone, Christine finally speaks about their past and Cosey’s betrayal. The former family cook, L, reveals she secretly destroyed Cosey’s cruel real will to protect the women. L suggests she may have even poisoned Bill Cosey because he caused so much hatred and ruin in their lives.