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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 O'Connor say has, for all its horror, been found by God to be worth dying for?

2. What is the name for someone who believes in religious dualism and the freedom of the soul from matter through asceticism?

3. O'Connor says a society is understood by what?

4. With what does O'Connor say there is a preoccupation in the work of Catholic writers of her time period?

5. Who does O'Connor say acts as a middleman between readers and writers?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does O'Connor feel about literature being taught by way of psychology?

2. How does O'Connor say she believes fiction should be taught?

3. What does O'Connor say about her book when she reviews it for class?

4. What does O'Connor say should be the result of the proper study of literature?

5. Why does O'Connor suspect that readers like it when the devil appears in fiction?

6. How does O'Connor feel about bestseller lists?

7. Why might a Catholic novelist feel angst about being both a Catholic and a fiction writer?

8. What does O'Connor say about absolutes in fiction, particularly religious fiction?

9. Describe the God that O'Connor says she believes in.

10. Why does O'Connor say the Protestant South is a good place for Catholic writers to write?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the idea that Catholic writers use violence as a way to get their point across. What does O'Connor feel might happen if a Catholic writer goes too far in using shocking techniques to make the secular reader understand? What is her advice to the Catholic writer who considers indulging in pornography or sentimentality in their writing?

Essay Topic 2

Look at O'Connor's conscious decision to let her birds take over her life and her farm. At what point does she realize she has to decide to choose whether she wants to keep her birds or let them rule her life? What do you think it says about O'Connor that she ask the man selling fence posts, "Who went?" in regards to his grandmother or his birds? Before reaching the end of the essay, did you think she might give her birds up? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Explore O'Connor's view of the short story. How does she say a short story is just like a novel? What does she say a short story requires? What are many short stories missing? Why do you think she holds the short story in such high esteem? What can it accomplish that a novel cannot?

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