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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. 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 he knew she would not get in.
(c) He told her she will never amount to anything now.
(d) He told her she should call the school and complain.

2. What does Didion feel meetings such as the one she attended in "Getting Serenity" reinforce in people?
(a) The addict's passive view of his situation.
(b) The belief they cannot recover.
(c) The desire to gamble.
(d) The instinct to relive your story over and over.

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

4. How old is Nancy's daughter Patti in "Pretty Nancy"?
(a) 15.
(b) 8.
(c) 19.
(d) 12.

5. What type of meeting does Didion cover in "Getting Serenity"?
(a) Narcotic's Anonymous.
(b) AlAnon.
(c) Alcoholic's Anonymous.
(d) Gambler's Anonymous.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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)?

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

3. Why does Walter Davis feel his perspective on war has changed in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?

4. What does the first speaker in "Getting Serenity" do before going out to the club?

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?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does the newsman in "Pretty Nancy" try to manipulate the moment to achieve his desired outcome?

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

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

4. Describe Nancy Reagan's interaction with her son at the end of "Pretty Nancy"?

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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