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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. What does Didion say she tried very hard to do while a student at Berkeley in "Why I Write"?

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

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

4. In "Telling Stories," what does Didion say she learned to do in writing "When Did Music Come This Way"?

5. In "Why I Write," what does Didion say she "plays by ear" (44)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Joan say she learned to do when writing "When Did Music Come This Way," and what did that story allow her to do after it was complete?

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

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

4. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analysis the theme of artist and subject in Let Me Tell You What I Mean. Reference "Pretty Nancy," "Some Women," and "Last Words" in your analysis.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing narrative voice in Joan Didion’s Let Me Tell You What I Mean. Choose a 2 - 3 essays to use as an example of Didion's narrative voice. Include thoughts on how the narrative voice effectively conveys the themes in each story.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about Didion's feeling about the underground press in "Alicia and the Underground Press." Use direct examples from the story that show the reader her views.

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