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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Nancy say her husband never did even for the movies?
(a) Wore new clothes.
(b) Wore makeup.
(c) Smiled.
(d) Combed his hair.

2. From where does Didion receive a rejection letter in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?
(a) Berkeley.
(b) UCLA.
(c) Harvard.
(d) Stanford University.

3. In "Pretty Nancy," where does Joan say Nancy went to college?
(a) Smith.
(b) Wellesley.
(c) Stanford.
(d) Yale.

4. What type of flower does the TV newsman suggest Nancy pick in "Pretty Nancy"?
(a) Daffodils.
(b) Rhododendrons.
(c) Roses.
(d) Tulips.

5. Where is Skip's son stationed in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?
(a) Vietnam.
(b) Bastogne.
(c) Pearl Harbor.
(d) Normandy.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What style of writing does Didion compare Alicia's underground piece to in "Alicia and the Underground Press"?

3. 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?

4. What is the subject of the essay Joan's friend asked her to write for him in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?

5. What type of meeting does Didion cover in "Getting Serenity"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Didion say underground papers are able to do that conventional papers cannot in "Alicia and the Underground Press"?

2. What does Joan say about the "great adventure" the men who fought in the 1940s compared to their sons "great adventure" (40) in Vietnam?

3. Who is Skip Skivington and what does he tell Joan about his son in "Fathers, Sons, and Screaming Eagles"?

4. What does Didion say about objectivity in "Alicia and the Underground Press"?

5. Why does Didion say that the so-called underground papers she discusses in "Alicia" are not really underground?

6. What example does Joan use to express how much more difficult things have gotten regarding parents trying to ensure their children get into their college of choice?

7. Where is Joan Didion in her essay "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles" (38)?

8. What is Joan doing at Nancy Reagan's home in "Pretty Nancy" and who else is there and why?

9. How did Joan's father react when she told him she did not get into Stanford in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?

10. What part of the meeting in "Getting Serenity does Didion find most unsettling and why?

(see the answer keys)

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