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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 sport does Annie play throughout her childhood?

2. How old is Annie when she runs down the street, trying to fly?

3. How many rivers meet at the center of Pittsburgh?

4. Which of the following characters has a little black notebook used for recording great jokes?

5. What do Annie and her friend place on a train track, just to see what would happen?

Short Essay Questions

1. What stark winter memory does Annie have regarding Jo Anne Sheehy?

2. How does Annie perform when she plays baseball with the boys?

3. What is Annie Dillard's father's greatest dream in life?

4. How does Mother react to Father's desire to travel down the river?

5. How was the city of Pittsburgh founded?

6. How does Henry greet Annie and her mother when he spots them at the Homewood Library?

7. What is Mother's favorite joke about the brick and the little black poodle?

8. What fascinates Annie most about the library books she checks out?

9. How does Annie describe life for the typical family after WWII?

10. How does Annie explore the skin of her parents?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Annie is visiting the Smokey Islands with her father, she is introduced to the locking system of the rivers. First, explain the function of the locking systems in rivers. Then, describe Annie's reaction to the locking systems, and how the knowledge of these systems altered her relationship with Father forever.

Essay Topic 2

Much of Annie's memoir deals with her musings on consciousness, and understanding one's place within the world. Give at least two examples of moments when Annie was acutely aware of her own consciousness within the world, and what lessons she learned from that consciousness.

Essay Topic 3

When Annie Dillard published this memoir, she was over forty years old, but attempting to write in the voice of her childhood. Give one example of a scene in which Annie was writing in the voice of ten-year-old child, and one scene in which she was writing in the voice of an adult woman looking back. Do you think the balance between these voices was successful? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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