View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which of O'Connor's works does she use to show examples of hidden themes and symbols?

2. What did the photographer come to O'Connor's home to film?

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

4. How many peafowl did O'Connor have after nine years?

5. What does O'Connor say that most people interested in writing are not interested in?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does O'Connor react to the editorial's cry for more spiritual writing, showing the joys of life?

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

4. How does the peahen act when she lays eggs?

5. How does O'Connor feel about short stories?

6. How does O'Connor feel about Southern writing being labeled as "grotesque"?

7. What is the gist of an editorial written to Life magazine regarding writers?

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

9. What does O'Connor say about those who have the gift for writing?

10. How did a man and his five white-haired children react when they saw the peacock in the road?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the benefits O'Connor says come from being a Georgia writer. What limitations might be established by calling oneself a Georgia writer? What do you think O'Connor means when she says the limitations are a gateway to reality? How does regionalism relate to reality? What does she say about writers who have a sense of community?

Essay Topic 2

Examine what O'Connor says about the writer's preoccupation with the poor. Why does she believe that writers tend to write about poor people? In what ways do poor people make interesting stories? What is it about the poor and their manners that attract writers? What does she mean when she says that everyone is poor in the eyes of the novelist?

Essay Topic 3

What do you think O'Connor means when she says Southerners write about freaks because they can still recognize them? What does she mean when she talks about the "whole man"? How does this tie into the idea that Southerners tend to be grotesque-style writers? What does she seem to mean when she uses the term "freak?"

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 840 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample