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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 is the full name of the man Joan is speaking with at the start of "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?
(a) Skip Skipperton.
(b) Skip Gilligan.
(c) Skip Skivington.
(d) Skip Smitherton.

2. Who does Didion say mainstream writers dine with at the end of "Alicia and the Underground Press"?
(a) Henry Ford.
(b) Harrison Ford.
(c) President Kennedy.
(d) Howard Hughes.

3. In "Pretty Nancy," what does Joan say Nancy's husband is the "definition of" (35)?
(a) Nice Guy.
(b) Good Husband.
(c) Good Old Boy.
(d) Career Politician.

4. In "Alicia and the Underground Press," what does Didion feel a reader can be sure of when the writer allows their bias to exist?
(a) You can be sure the writer will be dishonest.
(b) You can be sure the writer's goal is to change your mind.
(c) You can be sure the writer is unprofessional.
(d) You can be sure the writer will tell you what s/he truly thinks.

5. 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 told her he knew she would not get in.
(b) He shrugged his shoulders and offered her a drink.
(c) He told her she will never amount to anything now.
(d) He told her she should call the school and complain.

Short Answer Questions

1. What year does "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice" first mention?

2. Who is Nancy's husband in "Pretty Nancy"?

3. In "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice," Joan dates a man who aspires to be what?

4. Where does Joan begin taking classes after she was rejected from the college of her choice in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?

5. What is one of the newspapers that the author lists as one of the few that do not make her feel as though "the oxygen has been cut off from [her] brain tissue" (20)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Nancy Reagan show Joan at the State Capital and what does she say about it?

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

3. 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"?

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

5. Describe the first female speaker in "Getting Serenity."

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

7. What does Walter Davis say about his perspective on the war at the end of "Fathers, Sons, and Screaming Eagles"?

8. What does Didion says about the way Alicia writers her opinion piece about Ann Arbor in "Alicia"?

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

10. What happened to Joan on April 25, 1952 in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice" and how did she react?

(see the answer keys)

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