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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through "Why I Write," "Telling Stories" .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does Skip tell Joan he was stationed while in the 101st Airborne in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?
(a) Normandy.
(b) Hamburger Hill.
(c) VIetnam.
(d) Bastogne.

2. What kind of talk does Didion find unsettling during the meeting in "Getting Serenity"?
(a) Obsession with dates and numbers.
(b) Talk of lying and stealing.
(c) Talk of death and dying.
(d) Talk of miracles and Higher Powers.

3. What does the first speaker in "Getting Serenity" do before going out to the club?
(a) Buy drugs.
(b) Shoot up.
(c) Drink 1/5 of vodka.
(d) Put her children to bed.

4. In "A Trip to Xanadu," Didion says that San Simeon is "exactly the castle" (26) what type of person would build if that person were wealthy?
(a) A servant.
(b) A woman.
(c) A man.
(d) A child.

5. In "Telling Stories," how many stories does Didion say she completed for English 106A?
(a) 1.
(b) 3.
(c) 5.
(d) 0.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the underground newspapers Didion describes in "Alicia and the Underground Press" able to do that mainstream papers are not?

2. What does Skip tell Joan he is not to be mistaken for despite having a beard in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?

3. In "Telling Stories," what novel does Didion say developed from her notes that began about a man and woman in New York?

4. In "Telling Stories," what Hemingway short story does Didion mention as an example of a writer's "absolute control" (54)?

5. In "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice," what does Joan say her friend was disappointed about in her 4-year-old's reference letters?

(see the answer key)

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