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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who do the San Simeon tour guides in "A Trip to Xanadu" tell the group still stays in the 21 room guest house?

2. What does Skip tell Joan about his son in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?

3. What type of meeting does Didion cover in "Getting Serenity"?

4. In "Pretty Nancy," what does Joan say Nancy's husband is the "definition of" (35)?

5. What year was Walter Davis from "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles" stationed in Holland?

Short Essay Questions

1. What part of the meeting in "Getting Serenity does Didion find most unsettling and why?

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

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

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

6. What is Joan doing at Nancy Reagan's home in "Pretty Nancy" and who else is there and why?

7. Where does Didion say she felt she needed to be in the days following the Gambler's Anonymous meeting in "Getting Serenity"?

8. What example does Joan use to express how much more difficult things have gotten regarding parents trying to ensure their children get into their college of choice?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay describing the way Joan Didion comes up with ideas for her novels as discussed in "Why I Write" and in "Telling Stories." Where does these ideas come from? How do they manifest in the final product.

Essay Topic 2

Choose 3 essays from Let Me Tell You What I Mean and write an essay about the significance of the time period for each essay. What commentary might the piece say about any significant event or belief of that time?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing Didion's relationship with the written word. Use the following stories as reference: "Alicia and the Underground Press," "Why I Write," "Telling Stories," and "Last Words." Consider examples that show Didion's level of respect for the written word as well as her respect for other writers. Also, include why Didion herself writes and how she sees herself as a writer.

(see the answer keys)

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