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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 "Why I Write," what does Didion say she "plays by ear" (44)?
(a) Saxophone.
(b) Guitar.
(c) Grammar.
(d) Piano.

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

3. In "Telling Stories," what short story does Didion discuss as an example of her lack of control in writing?
(a) "Leaving Home."
(b) "Telling Stories."
(c) "Home Sweet Home."
(d) "Coming Home."

4. Where is Didion working at the start of "Some Women"?
(a) Vogue.
(b) Mademoiselle.
(c) Lady's Home Journal.
(d) Cosmopolitan.

5. In "Why I Write," Didion says that the image that played into her story the most in Book of Common Prayer came from when she was at an airport in which country?
(a) Portugal.
(b) Sweden.
(c) Panama.
(d) Colombia.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Telling Stories," what novel does Didion say developed from her notes that began about a man and woman in New York?

2. What is something Didion felt her classmates in English 106A had that she did not in "Telling Stories"?

3. What is English 106A, the course Didion discusses in "Telling Stories"?

4. At the start of "Why I Write," Didion says that "writing is the act of saying" (42) what?

5. In "Why I Write," Didion refers to writing as "the tactic of a secret" what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What surprised Didion after Richardson's death upon reading his manuscript?

2. Where did Didion attend photoshoots in her story "Some Women," and what does she say she noticed about the most successful shoots?

3. Why does Joan say she has "no talent" (54) for writing short fiction in "Telling Stories"?

4. In "Some Women," what does Didion say about what artists do and do not like to talk about with regard to their art?

5. What does Didion say of Richardson's often contrary behavior?

6. In "Last Words," what did Carlos Baker say with regard to why he thought it important to publish Hemingway's letters?

7. What does Didion say about the Milton class she had to take in order to graduate from Berkeley?

8. In "Telling Stories," how does Joan describe what she learned about writing while working at Vogue?

9. In "Telling Stories," what class did Joan discuss taking as a junior at Berkeley and how did she feel in that class?

10. What does Didion say about the first paragraph of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms in "Last Words"?

(see the answer keys)

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