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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What part of the body does the "line of words" in Chapter 1 invade?
(a) The soul.
(b) The lungs.
(c) The heart.
(d) The brain.

2. What did Dillard do one night in the rare book room of the Virginia library?
(a) Moved a black chess piece.
(b) Knocked over a chess board.
(c) Moved a white chess piece.
(d) Left the lights on all night.

3. What was the result of Dillard's first attempts at splitting wood in Chapter 3?
(a) She cut herself with the axe.
(b) She split fine logs.
(c) She missed the wood every time.
(d) Tiny wedges got chopped off.

4. Why did Dillard momentarily feel she must quit writing in Chapter 3?
(a) She was addicted to cigarettes.
(b) She was too young to be living at a desk.
(c) She had nothing new to say.
(d) She was not good at it.

5. What question does Dillard say a writer must ask when considering random scenes that come to mind?
(a) Do I want to expose these scenes to the light?
(b) How many scenes do I need to write?
(c) Is writing the same as film exposure?
(d) Should I write everything I think of?

Short Answer Questions

1. When Dillard wrote in Roanoke, Virginia, what did she long for upon coming home after writing?

2. Why was Dillard's finger in pain at times as she wrote in the university office in Virginia?

3. What do television and films do to the body's senses, according to Dillard?

4. What does Dillard say that she feels a writer must do about feeling one's work in progress is either magnificent or abominable?

5. Whose poetry did Dillard usually read aloud when on a break?

(see the answer key)

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