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Total Categories: 6
Hortense J. Spillers is primarily recognized for her scholarship as a historian specializing in 19th-century American politics.
Answer: False
The provided materials identify Hortense J. Spillers as a literary critic and Black Feminist scholar, holding the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professorship at Vanderbilt University, rather than a historian of 19th-century American politics.
Hortense Spillers was born in the year 1952.
Answer: False
According to the provided biographical information, Hortense Spillers was born on April 24, 1942, not 1952.
Spillers obtained her Ph.D. in Sociology from Brandeis University.
Answer: False
The source material indicates that Hortense Spillers completed her Ph.D. in English at Brandeis University, not in Sociology.
During her time at the University of Memphis, Hortense Spillers worked as a disc jockey for WDIA, an all-black radio station.
Answer: True
The provided information confirms that while Hortense Spillers was a student at the University of Memphis, she served as a disc jockey for WDIA, an all-black radio station.
Identify Hortense J. Spillers's primary academic field and her principal affiliation.
Answer: Literary critic and Black Feminist scholar at Vanderbilt University.
Hortense J. Spillers is identified as an American literary critic and Black Feminist scholar, holding the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professorship at Vanderbilt University.
According to the provided materials, ascertain the birthdate of Hortense Spillers.
Answer: April 24, 1942
The provided biographical information states that Hortense Spillers was born on April 24, 1942.
Ascertain the specific doctoral degree Hortense Spillers earned from Brandeis University.
Answer: Doctor of Philosophy in English
Hortense Spillers completed her Ph.D. in English at Brandeis University in 1974.
Identify Hortense Spillers's professional role at the radio station WDIA during her tenure there.
Answer: Disc Jockey
While a student at the University of Memphis, Hortense Spillers worked as a disc jockey for WDIA, an all-black radio station.
Hortense Spillers holds the esteemed Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professorship at Vanderbilt University.
Answer: True
The source material confirms that Hortense Spillers holds the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professorship at Vanderbilt University, where she is recognized as a distinguished scholar of the African diaspora.
Before teaching at Vanderbilt, Spillers only held positions at Ivy League institutions.
Answer: False
Hortense Spillers held academic positions at institutions such as Haverford College, Wellesley College, Emory University, and Cornell University prior to her tenure at Vanderbilt. Cornell is an Ivy League institution, but Haverford, Wellesley, and Emory are not.
Hortense Spillers has received scholarly recognition from both the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
Answer: True
The provided materials explicitly state that Hortense Spillers's scholarly work has been recognized with awards from both the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
Hortense Spillers served as the founding editor of *The A-Line Journal* starting in 2013.
Answer: True
The provided information confirms that Hortense Spillers founded and served as the editor of *The A-Line Journal, A Journal of Progressive Commentary* beginning in 2013.
Spillers received the Andrew J. Kappel Prize in Literary Criticism in 2007.
Answer: True
The source material confirms that Hortense Spillers was awarded the Andrew J. Kappel Prize in Literary Criticism in 2007 by *Twentieth Century Literature*.
Identify the institution among the following that is NOT listed as a place where Hortense Spillers previously held a faculty appointment.
Answer: University of Memphis
While Hortense Spillers earned her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Memphis, the provided text lists Haverford College, Wellesley College, Emory University, and Cornell University as institutions where she previously held faculty positions prior to Vanderbilt.
Hortense Spillers's distinguished scholarly work has been recognized by grants from which two prominent foundations?
Answer: The Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation
The source material explicitly states that Hortense Spillers's scholarly work has been recognized with awards from both the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
What significant editorial role did Hortense Spillers assume in the year 2013?
Answer: Founding editor of *The A-Line Journal, A Journal of Progressive Commentary*
In 2013, Hortense Spillers founded and became the editor of the scholarly journal *The A-Line Journal, A Journal of Progressive Commentary*.
Spillers is most famous for her work on 19th-century American poetry.
Answer: False
Hortense Spillers is most renowned for her influential essays on African-American literature, particularly her work on "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book," not specifically 19th-century American poetry.
Hortense Spillers's essay "Interstices: A Small Drama of Words" centers on the linguistic analysis of stereotypes pertinent to Black women.
Answer: True
The source material confirms that in "Interstices: A Small Drama of Words," Spillers employs a linguistic approach to re-examine harmful stereotypes associated with Black women.
Hortense Spillers is the sole author of the 2003 collection *Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture*.
Answer: True
The source material indicates that Hortense Spillers published *Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture* in 2003, implying it is a collection of her own essays rather than a co-authored work.
Spillers edited a 1991 collection titled *Comparative American Identities: Race, Sex, and Nationality in the Modern Text*.
Answer: True
The provided information confirms that Hortense Spillers edited the 1991 collection *Comparative American Identities: Race, Sex, and Nationality in the Modern Text*.
The term "Interstices," as employed by Spillers, refers literally to gaps in computer code where data is lost.
Answer: False
Spillers reappropriates "Interstices," a term originating from computer science, to metaphorically describe linguistic and conceptual gaps where the experiences of marginalized groups, like Black women, are overlooked or fall "through the cracks."
In her 1996 article, Spillers examines the intersection of psychoanalysis and race.
Answer: True
The source material indicates that Hortense Spillers published an article in 1996 titled "'All the Things You Could Be by Now, if Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother': Psychoanalysis and Race," which examines the intersection of these fields.
Spillers's 1971 prize-winning essay analyzed the rhetorical style of Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons.
Answer: True
Hortense Spillers's essay "MARTIN LUTHER KING AND THE STYLE OF THE BLACK SERMON," published in 1971, won second prize in The Black Scholar Essay Contest and analyzed the rhetorical style of Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons.
Hortense Spillers published an article in *The Black Scholar* in 1978 titled "The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Post-Date."
Answer: True
The provided materials confirm that Spillers published an article titled "The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Post-Date" in *The Black Scholar* in 1978.
Hortense Spillers's 2003 collection of essays, *Black, White, and in Color*, primarily focuses on Renaissance art.
Answer: False
The collection *Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture*, published in 2003, explores themes in American literature and culture, not Renaissance art.
Hortense Spillers published a 2016 essay that examines the works of William Faulkner.
Answer: True
The provided materials mention a 2016 essay by Spillers titled "'Born Again': Faulkner and the Second Birth," which examines themes within William Faulkner's literary works.
Hortense Spillers published a 2006 article titled "The Idea of Black Culture."
Answer: True
The source material confirms that Hortense Spillers published an article in 2006 titled "The Idea of Black Culture."
The book *Conjuring: Black Women, Fiction, and Literary Tradition* was solely authored by Hortense Spillers.
Answer: False
The book *Conjuring: Black Women, Fiction, and Literary Tradition* was co-authored by Hortense Spillers and Marjorie Pryse, not solely authored by Spillers.
For which seminal essay is Hortense Spillers most renowned within academic discourse?
Answer: "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book"
Hortense Spillers is most renowned for her influential essays on African-American literature, particularly her 1987 essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book."
What is the primary focus of Hortense Spillers's essay "Interstices: A Small Drama of Words"?
Answer: Re-examining stereotypes of Black women using a linguistic approach.
In "Interstices: A Small Drama of Words," Spillers utilizes a linguistic approach to re-examine harmful stereotypes associated with Black women in both literature and society, identifying how language flaws can lead to overlooked experiences.
Identify a book that was edited by Hortense Spillers from the following options.
Answer: *Comparative American Identities: Race, Sex, and Nationality in the Modern Text*
Hortense Spillers edited the 1991 collection *Comparative American Identities: Race, Sex, and Nationality in the Modern Text*. *Black, White, and in Color* is a collection of her own essays, and *Conjuring* was co-authored.
What is the full title of Hortense Spillers's 2003 book of essays?
Answer: *Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture*
Hortense Spillers published the collection *Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture* in 2003.
Which of Hortense Spillers's published articles critically examines the intersection of psychoanalysis and race?
Answer: "'All the Things You Could Be by Now, if Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother': Psychoanalysis and Race" (1996)
The article titled "'All the Things You Could Be by Now, if Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother': Psychoanalysis and Race," published in 1996, examines the intersection of psychoanalysis and race.
What is the theoretical significance of Hortense Spillers's appropriation of the term 'Interstices'?
Answer: It denotes the gaps or overlooked spaces where marginalized experiences, like those of Black women, can fall.
Spillers reappropriates "Interstices" to describe linguistic and conceptual gaps where the experiences of marginalized groups, particularly Black women, are overlooked or fall "through the cracks."
What was the subject of Hortense Spillers's prize-winning essay published in *The Black Scholar* in 1971?
Answer: The rhetorical style of Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons.
Hortense Spillers's prize-winning essay in *The Black Scholar* in 1971 analyzed the rhetorical style of Martin Luther King Jr.'s sermons.
Hortense Spillers argues that Black women's sexuality is often well-articulated and celebrated within dominant discourse.
Answer: False
Contrary to this statement, Spillers argues that due to the pervasive influence of white supremacy, Black women's sexuality is often poorly articulated and silenced in discourse, leading to their objectification and marginalization.
Hortense Spillers employs the metaphor of 'beached whales' to signify the lack of agency and voice experienced by Black women.
Answer: True
The source material confirms that Spillers uses the metaphor of "beached whales of the sexual universe, unvoiced, unseen, not doing, awaiting their verb" to emphasize the lack of active voice and agency attributed to Black women.
Hortense Spillers posits that Black men and Black women face identical challenges concerning sex and gender validation.
Answer: False
Spillers suggests that Black men are often granted more agency in acting upon their sex, while Black women face a "paradox of nonbeing," where their sexualities are not initially validated, complicating their gender construction and indicating differentiated challenges.
Hortense Spillers argues that the institution of slavery primarily 'ungendered' Black women by emphasizing their reproductive capacities.
Answer: True
Spillers contends that during slavery, both Black men and women were subjected to 'ungendering' as property, with enslaved women's reproductive functions being particularly emphasized within this dehumanizing system.
Spillers's concept of the "paradox of nonbeing" describes the challenges Black women face in achieving gender validation due to the fundamental lack of articulation and validation of their sexualities.
Answer: True
The "paradox of nonbeing" refers to the concept that Black women's sexualities are not fundamentally validated or recognized, which complicates their gender construction and prevents them from finding common ground with white women based on shared experiences of sex.
The phrase 'awaiting their verb' signifies that Black women are defined by external forces rather than their own actions.
Answer: True
Spillers uses the phrase "awaiting their verb" to denote a perceived lack of agency and active participation in their own narratives, suggesting that Black women are often defined by external forces rather than by their own actions or self-definition.
Hortense Spillers argues that existing linguistic frameworks are insufficient for adequately capturing and validating the complex experiences of Black women.
Answer: True
Spillers contends that existing language often fails to adequately capture or validate the experiences of Black women, contributing to their marginalization and silencing.
What does Hortense Spillers argue regarding the representation of Black women's sexuality under the pervasive influence of white supremacy?
Answer: It is often poorly articulated and silenced, leading to marginalization.
Spillers argues that due to the pervasive influence of white supremacy, Black women's sexuality is frequently poorly articulated and silenced in discourse, resulting in their objectification and marginalization.
What potent metaphor does Hortense Spillers employ to underscore the diminished agency and silenced voice of Black women within societal discourse?
Answer: Beached whales, unvoiced and awaiting their verb.
Spillers uses the metaphor of Black women as "beached whales of the sexual universe, unvoiced, unseen, not doing, awaiting their verb" to emphasize their lack of agency and silenced voice.
How does Hortense Spillers differentiate the gendered experiences of Black men and Black women?
Answer: Black men are often granted more agency, while Black women face a 'paradox of nonbeing'.
Spillers suggests that Black men are often afforded more agency in relation to their sex, whereas Black women encounter a "paradox of nonbeing" due to the lack of validation of their sexualities, complicating their gender construction.
Hortense Spillers's concept of the 'paradox of nonbeing' as applied to Black women primarily relates to:
Answer: The fundamental lack of validation of their sexualities.
The "paradox of nonbeing" refers to the concept that Black women's sexualities are not fundamentally validated or recognized, which complicates their gender construction and prevents them from finding common ground with white women based on shared experiences of sex.
What is the theoretical implication of Hortense Spillers's phrase 'awaiting their verb' concerning Black women?
Answer: They lack agency and are defined by external forces rather than their own actions.
The phrase "awaiting their verb" signifies a perceived lack of agency and active participation in their own narratives, suggesting that Black women are often defined by external forces rather than by their own actions or self-definition.
Hortense Spillers's critical scholarship integrates insights from semiotics, feminist theory, and cultural studies.
Answer: True
The source material confirms that Spillers's critical work draws upon and integrates insights from disciplines including African-American studies, feminist theory, semiotics, and cultural studies.
The Moynihan Report concluded that external economic factors were the primary cause of Black societal deterioration.
Answer: False
The Moynihan Report's central thesis posited that the deterioration of the Black family structure, rather than external economic factors, was the primary cause of perceived Black societal deterioration.
Hortense Spillers critiques the Moynihan Report for attributing blame to Black matriarchal structures and inadequately considering the impact of slavery.
Answer: True
Spillers's critique of the Moynihan Report involves challenging its focus on matriarchal structures as the cause of societal issues and highlighting its failure to adequately account for the profound historical impact of slavery on family dynamics.
Hortense Spillers views matriarchy as inherently destructive to the Black American family structure.
Answer: False
Spillers challenges the negative connotations of matriarchy within the Black American family, contending that it is not inherently destructive and offering a counter-perspective to analyses like that found in the Moynihan Report.
Spillers suggests that solidarity between Black women and white women based solely on sex is easily achievable.
Answer: False
Spillers implies that solidarity based solely on shared gender is complicated for Black women due to the compounded effects of racism and sexism, which may prevent easy sympathy with white women's experiences.
Spillers's work challenges universalizing theories of gender by highlighting the profound impact of race on these constructs.
Answer: True
A central aspect of Spillers's scholarship is its challenge to universalizing theories of gender and sexuality by emphasizing how race profoundly shapes these constructs and leads to unique forms of oppression and identity formation.
Spillers's work suggests that historical traumas like slavery have fundamentally shaped contemporary Black identity.
Answer: True
A central argument in Spillers's scholarship is that historical traumas, such as the legacy of slavery, have profoundly shaped contemporary Black identity, particularly concerning gender, family, and self-articulation.
Identify the academic discipline that is NOT explicitly mentioned as being integrated into Hortense Spillers's critical theoretical framework.
Answer: Postcolonial Theory
The provided materials explicitly mention the integration of African-American studies, feminist theory, semiotics, and cultural studies into Spillers's work. Postcolonial Theory is not explicitly listed.
According to the provided source material, what was the central thesis of the Moynihan Report concerning Black society?
Answer: The deterioration of the Black family was the main cause of Black societal deterioration.
The Moynihan Report posited that the deterioration of the Black family structure was the primary cause for the perceived deterioration of Black society.
How does Hortense Spillers critique the analytical framework presented in the Moynihan Report?
Answer: She contends that the report leads to an 'ungendering' of Black individuals and ignores slavery's effects.
Spillers critiques the Moynihan Report for attributing blame to matriarchal structures and argues that its analysis leads to an "ungendering" of Black individuals while failing to adequately consider the historical impact of slavery.
How does Hortense Spillers's theoretical framework challenge conventional, universalizing theories of gender?
Answer: By highlighting how race profoundly shapes gender constructs and leads to unique oppressions.
Spillers challenges universalizing theories of gender by emphasizing how race profoundly shapes gender constructs, leading to unique forms of oppression and identity formation, particularly for Black women.
Which of the following best characterizes Hortense Spillers's perspective on the feasibility of solidarity between Black women and white women predicated solely on shared gender identity?
Answer: It is complicated by the compounded effects of racism and sexism on Black women.
Spillers suggests that solidarity based solely on shared gender identity is complicated for Black women due to the compounded adversities of racism and sexism, which may affect their ability to find common ground with white women.
Hortense Spillers's essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe" is considered a foundational text for the field of Afro-pessimism.
Answer: True
While Hortense Spillers does not identify as an Afro-pessimist herself, her 1987 essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book" is widely regarded as a foundational text within the field of Afro-pessimism.
The Combahee River Collective has never referenced Hortense Spillers's scholarly work.
Answer: False
The Combahee River Collective has, in fact, referenced Hortense Spillers's work multiple times in their discussions and writings, indicating a connection and influence.
The essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe" is considered a foundational text for Afro-pessimist theory.
Answer: True
This essay is widely recognized as a foundational text within Afro-pessimist theory, influencing subsequent scholarship in the field.
Hortense Spillers's scholarly contributions are widely considered significant within the field of Black Feminist scholarship.
Answer: True
Spillers is recognized as a key figure in Black Feminist scholarship, offering critical analyses of African-American literature and culture that center the experiences and theoretical concerns of Black women.
Explain how Hortense Spillers's 1987 essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book" relates to the theoretical field of Afro-pessimism.
Answer: The essay is considered a foundational text for the field, though Spillers does not identify as an Afro-pessimist.
While Spillers herself does not identify as an Afro-pessimist, her essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe: An American Grammar Book" is recognized as a foundational text that significantly influenced the development of Afro-pessimist theory.