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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was knocking on the carrel window as Dillard worked in Roanoke?

2. What did Dillard's study carrel in the Hollins College library overlook?

3. Under what circumstances did Rabbi Uri of Strelisk tell his family to dispose of his manuscripts?

4. How long did it take William Faulkner to write "As I Lay Dying"?

5. Which book does Dillard say she discovered that she touched every night in the darkened library to find her room?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Dillard believe a writer often wants to refrain from throwing away the beginnings of the work she has created?

2. How does Dillard say that she defines the meaning of schedules, in Chapter 2?

3. When Dillard was working in the library at night, how did she find her way around in the dark?

4. Why does Dillard say that she made a pen drawing of the scenes outside her library window?

5. Why did the inchworm in Dillard's story keep asking itself, "What! No further"?

6. Why did a ritual slaughterer bid goodbye to his wife and children every morning as if it were his last, in Chapter 1?

7. Dillard describes the scenes from her desk at the library in Virginia. Why does she say these scenes are detrimental to her work?

8. How is the line of Dillard's words likened to a hammer in Chapter 1?

9. When the cab driver in New York sang songs with Dillard, why did he sing one dull song twice?

10. How does Dillard describe the way in which a writer might start the process of writing a book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dillard has problems with her writing throughout the book. She cannot concentrate, gets distracted, and cannot produce anything on some days. How did Dillard overcome her problems? What led her to better understand herself and the work she does?

Essay Topic 2

What is the overall theme of Chapter 1? Give examples to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the vision of what a projected work of art is, whether it be writing or painting. How does the vision lead one to a finished product?

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