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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 wrote the collection of stories called "Rotting Hill"?

2. Who is the Dixie Limited?

3. While some call "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" grotesque, what does O'Connor call it?

4. What question did the editorial that challenged O'Connor ask?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does O'Connor feel about the peahens?

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

4. Why does O'Connor think some people pretend to be unaffected by the peacocks?

5. Why did the man who sold fence posts get rid of his peafowl?

6. What does O'Connor say about reality in fiction writing?

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

8. How does O'Connor feel about people trying to analyze her work?

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

10. Why did a photographer visit O'Connor when she was a young girl?

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

Explore the use of Mary Ann as a representation for grotesque-style literature. How does the story of Mary Ann help O'Connor to gain new perspective on the topic of the grotesque? How does she start to think differently about the way people see "good" in things? Why does she say that it is easier to see evil than it is to see good? How does this relate to Mary Ann? How does it relate to the grotesque?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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