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. In "Long Distance Runner," what argument does Didion cite when discussing how Richardson liked to be contrary?
(a) That all silent films should be overdubbed.
(b) That all of his films should be burned.
(c) That all black and white films should be colorized.
(d) That all foreign films should be made in English.

2. In "Telling Stories," what does Didion say she learned to do in writing "When Did Music Come This Way"?
(a) Write with control.
(b) Write in first person.
(c) Use imagery.
(d) Write in third person.

3. 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) Sweden.
(b) Colombia.
(c) Panama.
(d) Portugal.

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

5. In "Some Women," what writer does Didion say is quoted as saying that talking about his novel was bad luck?
(a) Joseph Conrad.
(b) George Orwell.
(c) Ernest Hemingway.
(d) Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Short Answer Questions

1. For what publication was Hemingway working when he would sometimes rewrite submissions for practice?

2. What tennis player's behavior did Richardson say was "glorious" accordion to Didion in "Long Distance Runner"?

3. In "Long Distance Runner," who did Richardson take to France when Didion and her husband were unable to join him?

4. What did Hemingway instruct his executors to do in a letter written a few years before his death?

5. In "Telling Stories," what publication finally accepted Didion's story "When Did Music Come This Way"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What did Didion first think Run River was a story about, and what did it become?

4. Who is Tony Richardson and how is he described in the two pictures Joan discusses at the start of "Long Distance Runner"?

5. What character in A Book of Common Prayer developed from an image of the Panama airport at 6 a.m. that stayed in Joan's mind?

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

7. In "Telling Stories," what grade does Joan say she received in 106A, and why does she think she got that grade?

8. How does Didion describe the public image and perception of Hemingway in "Last Words"?

9. Describe the scene from "Long Distance Runner" when Didion and her husband arrive at St. Tropez to pick up their daughter.

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 956 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample