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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 did Mary Hemingway allow Carlos Baker to do in his book published after Hemingway's death?
(a) Write disparagingly of Hemingway.
(b) Rewrite his most famous novels.
(c) Publish his unedited manuscript.
(d) Publish 600 of his letters.

2. Where did Hemingway shoot himself in 1961?
(a) Ketchum, Idaho.
(b) Havana.
(c) Key West.
(d) Africa.

3. In "Why I Write," Didion refers to writing as "the tactic of a secret" what?
(a) Snob.
(b) Genius.
(c) Introvert.
(d) Bully.

4. In "Telling Stories," what does Didion say compelled her to try writing short stories again after 10 years?
(a) Her boredom with long prose.
(b) A lack of ideas.
(c) The fear she would not write another novel.
(d) Her interest in portraying a window into someone's world.

5. Which friend of Hemingway and his wife does Didion mention at the start of "Last Words"?
(a) Pam.
(b) Peggy.
(c) Polly.
(d) Pauline.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of the female character in A Book of Common Prayer which Didion discusses in "Why I Write" ?

2. In "Some Women," what does Robert Mapplethorpe say is present in the way he arranges things for his photo shoots?

3. In "Telling Stories," what does Didion say many publications gave as a reason for not publishing "When Did Music Come This Way"?

4. Who wrote the script for "Hills Like White Elephants" discussed in "Long Distance Runner"?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What example does Didion cite as proof that Hemingway did not want his letters to be published after his death in "Last Words"?

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

3. What does Didion say about the title for her talk "Why I Write" at the start? From whom did she steal the title and what did she like about it?

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

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

6. In "Why I Write," why does Joan say she writes?

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

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

9. What does Didion say about the way she thinks, or does not think, at the start of "Why I Write"?

10. What brief moment at the Riviera Casino in Las Vegas worked into her novel Play it as it Lays?

(see the answer keys)

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