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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. About how long did the telephone repairman wait to see a peacock strut?
(a) 30 minutes.
(b) 15 minutes.
(c) One hour.
(d) 45 minutes.

2. What did the editorial that challenged American writers say American writers do?
(a) Write about being poor.
(b) Write too abstractly, confusing readers.
(c) Write too much like British writers.
(d) Write as if everyone in the country is rich.

3. What volunteer fire department was Mr. Montgomery a member of?
(a) Biloxi.
(b) Crawford.
(c) Birmingham.
(d) Jackson.

4. O'Connor's friend told her that a bookstore clerk referred to "The Violent Bear It Away" with what title?
(a) The Valiant Bloom Always.
(b) The Bear That Ran Away With It.
(c) The Violets Bear Today.
(d) The One That Got Away.

5. How did the old man respond when his children asked him what O'Connor's peacock was?
(a) He stands in silence before getting back in his car.
(b) He says it is an "overgrown chicken."
(c) He says it is "the king of the birds."
(d) He says it is "a peacock and nothing more."

6. What did O'Connor tell a classroom that there was no such thing as?
(a) An American Novel.
(b) The Writer.
(c) A Work of Fiction.
(d) A Critical Response.

7. What does O'Connor say there are more of in the South than rivers and streams?
(a) Farmers.
(b) Critics.
(c) Preachers.
(d) Writers.

8. How many peafowl did O'Connor have after nine years?
(a) 60.
(b) 70.
(c) 50.
(d) 40.

9. What question did the editorial that challenged O'Connor ask?
(a) Who speaks for the poor today?
(b) Who speaks for the South today?
(c) Who speaks for America today?
(d) Who speaks for women today?

10. What did one of O'Connor's peafowl lose in the mowing machine?
(a) A wing.
(b) Its tail.
(c) A foot.
(d) An eye.

11. How much was a pair of peafowl that O'Connor saw in the paper?
(a) $150.
(b) $30.
(c) $20.
(d) $65.

12. What does O'Connor say fiction should deal with?
(a) The subconscious.
(b) History.
(c) Vague concepts.
(d) Reality.

13. What does O'Connor say is the first reaction people have when they see a peacock's tail?
(a) Gasp.
(b) Laughter.
(c) Tears.
(d) Silence.

14. Granville Hicks reviewed a novel by whom?
(a) Thomas Shepard.
(b) James Jones.
(c) John Wise.
(d) Samuel Willard.

15. How many sections does the story "Summer Dust" have?
(a) 4.
(b) 5.
(c) 8.
(d) 3.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did O'Connor feel like when she heard about The School Southern Degeneracy?

2. Where was Faulkner at home?

3. What did the magazine editorial that challenged American writers say literature lacks?

4. In what magazine did O'Connor read an editorial challenging her and other writers?

5. Where did O'Connor see the ad for her first peafowl?

(see the answer keys)

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