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. Who wrote that the roots of the eye are in the heart?

2. Freedom is of no use without what?

3. In what year did O'Connor present materials from "The Church and the Fiction Writer" during a talk at a college?

4. What does the Catholic reader separate nature from?

5. What does O'Connor think English teachers can help change?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does O'Connor respond to those who say that Catholics cannot be artists?

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

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

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

5. When does O'Connor say the greatest dramas occur?

6. What does O'Connor say to those who say that Catholics are too restrained by their rigorous Catholic education to write creatively?

7. How did John Hersey defend his book "A Bell for Adano" in a letter to the Georgia state school superintendent?

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

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

10. How does O'Connor respond to the idea that there is a lack of good Catholic writing in America?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?"

Essay Topic 3

Explore O'Connor's view that writers should veer away from abstract concepts. What is her stance on using symbols in fiction? When do they work? What is the problem with the way writers use them? How does O'Connor say she uses symbols? How should using symbols tie into addressing reality?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 809 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample