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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through "Last Words" Part II, "Everywoman.com" .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the star of the Tony Richardson film Didion cites at the start of "Long Distance Runner"?
(a) Arnold Schwarzenegger.
(b) Al Pacino.
(c) Jack Nicholson.
(d) Robert DeNiro.

2. Which Hemingway novel is quoted at the start of "Last Words"?
(a) The Sun Also Shines.
(b) The Old Man and the Sea.
(c) A Farewell to Arms.
(d) A Moveable Feast.

3. What word does Joan use to describe the way things were back when she received her rejection letter compared to when she wrote What grade does Joan's friend get on the essay she wrote for him in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?
(a) Silly.
(b) Old-Fashioned.
(c) Benign.
(d) Intense.

4. In what grade does Joan's friend get on the essay she wrote for him in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice," how many applications does Joan say the private kindergarten her friend was trying to get her child into received?
(a) 1000.
(b) 5.
(c) 90.
(d) 15.

5. What does Didion say she tried very hard to do while a student at Berkeley in "Why I Write"?
(a) Think in abstracts.
(b) Think clearly.
(c) Think like her professors.
(d) Think more realistically.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of Joan's relatives does she show her college rejection letter to in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?

2. Though Didion agrees that writing in underground newspapers is often "amateurish and badly written," she disagrees with what sentiment?

3. In "Why I Write," what does Didion say she "plays by ear" (44)?

4. In "Last Words," what does Didion quote Hemingway as saying is one of the few things that had dignity?

5. One of the meeting attendees, Frank L., has been going to meetings for six years and on the night Joan attended had not placed a bet in how long?

(see the answer key)

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