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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. How does plot fall together?

2. What is Anne's comment on messes?

3. What does Anne say must first happen before we can recognize others for who they are?

4. According to Anne, what is the way to "nail" a character?

5. Where does the image of putting an octopus to bed come from?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do you know when you are done, according to Anne?

2. When Anne was writing food reviews, how did allowing herself to write bad first drafts help her?

3. According to Anne, how are we able to see the underlying essence of a person?

4. Alice Adams suggests the ABDCE formula for writing a short story. How can formulas be a great way to get us started?

5. What does Anne suggest doing with the feeling of paranoia?

6. How did having a mother and father who read, and a father who was a writer, affect Anne's life?

7. With every work there will always be more that you could have done. What does Anne warn us against with this thought?

8. When Anne's students tell her they do not know where to start, she tells them to start with their childhood. How is this helpful?

9. How does Anne state dialogue affects a reader?

10. How does Anne compare writing a first draft to watching a Polaroid develop?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When you are stuck and cannot think of any other thing to do, but you can not leave your work alone, how does writing a letter help the writer? Who can you write the letter to? What can the letter be about? What does the writing a letter free the writer from?

Essay Topic 2

In Part 2, The Writing Frame of Mind, Section 1, Looking Around, Anne says that writing is about "learning to pay attention and communicate what is going on."

Part 1) Anne's father taught the prisoners of San Quentin to pay attention and write down their thoughts. At this time Anne was a young child, and thought it easier for her to write down what was going on. Why was it easier for her?

Part 2) How is the writer like the cheese in "The Farmer in the Dell?"

Part 3) As a writer, how should we look at the people around us in order to honestly recognize who they are?

Essay Topic 3

In Part 4, Publication and Other Reasons to Write, Section 1, Writing a Present, Toni Morrison is quoted as saying, "The function of freedom is to free someone else." How can writing free another person, such as the reader? In what ways does writing affect the writer?

(see the answer keys)

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