View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the underground newspapers Didion describes in "Alicia and the Underground Press" able to do that mainstream papers are not?
(a) They are able to speak indirectly to the reader.
(b) They are able to contain their bias.
(c) They are able to get through to the readers.
(d) They are able to sway the reader's opinion.

2. In "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice," what does Joan say her father did when she told him of her rejection letter?
(a) He shrugged his shoulders and offered her a drink.
(b) He told her she will never amount to anything now.
(c) He told her he knew she would not get in.
(d) He told her she should call the school and complain.

3. What does Didion say she associates that word serenity with in "Getting Serenity"?
(a) Death.
(b) Joy.
(c) Gardening.
(d) Peace.

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

5. Rather than being adversaries, Didion says that writers for mainstream newspapers are now what?
(a) Blacklisted.
(b) Confidants.
(c) Ignored.
(d) Bribed.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where in Las Vegas is the reunion Joan attends in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"located?

2. In "Pretty Nancy," what does Joan say Nancy's father did for work?

3. How many people does Didion write in "A Trip to Xanadu" visited San Simeon annually?

4. Where does Didion say she used to eavesdrop on people's conversations thinking "it was a good way to learn about life" (23) in "Getting Serenity"?

5. Where does Skip tell Joan he was stationed while in the 101st Airborne in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Didion describe the tone of the tour guides in "A Trip to Xanadu"?

3. 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?

4. How does Didion describe the way the Hearsts spent money in "A Trip to Xanadu"?

5. Describe the 22-year-old speaker in "Getting Serenity."

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

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

8. What do the tour guides in "A Trip to Xandadu" say about Hearsts sons?

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. In "A Trip to Xanadu," what is the castle people could see from Highway 1 and who built it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 770 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample