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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 sort of eyes did O'Connor prefer chickens to have?

2. How long does it take for a cock's plumage to attain its pattern?

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

4. O'Connor says no other writer was hotter after the dollar than whom?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What dream did O'Connor have at the end of "The King of the Birds"?

2. How did the peafowl feel about O'Connor after nine years?

3. How does O'Connor describe grotesque writing?

4. What observations does O'Connor make about the student manuscripts she read?

5. Why does O'Connor believe that Christian writers will best be able to discern the grotesque?

6. Why does O'Connor advise that if an author is called a Southern writer he is best to rid himself of the title as soon as possible?

7. How does having lost the Civil War make Southerners better writers, according to O'Connor?

8. Why does O'Connor believe Southern writers are anguished?

9. What makes Georgia writers different from writers from New York or Hollywood According to O'Connor?

10. What does O'Connor mean when she says a writer must find his location in order to do his best work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does O'Connor say about being labeled a Southern writer? Does she feel that it is beneficial to wear this label? What problems does she run into because she is labeled a Southern writer? Based on her tone, how does she seem to feel about how those writing in the South are perceived to always be writing about the South?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the way O'Connor uses her own story about a family of six, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," to highlight her plea for readers to stop over analyzing her work. What does she say typically happens when the story is read? How would she like readers to read this story? Why do you think she would prefer readers to stop trying to figure this story and her other works out?

Essay Topic 3

What does O'Connor mean when she says that the greatest dramas occur when there is salvation or the loss of a soul? How do these plot devices create interesting stories for the reader? What about the reader who does not believe in salvation or sin? Do you think nonbelievers can fully enjoy fiction written with a religious slant?

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