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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the analogy she draws between the snake skin and the seasons?
(a) snakes shed skins in accordance with the seasons
(b) seasons are a continuous loop, just as she thought the snakeskin was
(c) snakes move depending on the season
(d) there is no analogy between snakes and seasons

2. What does the animal in question #1 do to to get Dillard's attention?
(a) jumps in through the open window and climbs on Dillard's chest
(b) knocks her glasses off onto the floor
(c) bats her leg with his paw
(d) meows loudly

3. What did the animal in question #1 often leave on Dillard's nightgown?
(a) cat hairs
(b) wet, slimy mud off his paws
(c) a dead mouse
(d) bloody, rose-shaped paw prints

4. Dillard sees so much in the natural world which seems paradoxical. Why?
(a) because large trees would block the sun from smaller ones
(b) because the same plant could heal you or kill you
(c) because half the day had sun, half did not
(d) she saw beauty side by side with horrors

5. According to Dillard, how is the past healed?
(a) by ignoring it
(b) if one stays in the present, the past is healed
(c) by meditating on forgiveness
(d) by focusing on the future

6. Why did Xerxes stop the advance of his entire army?
(a) to watch a beautiful sunset
(b) to meditate on the beauty of a sycamore tree
(c) to cut a path through a dense forest
(d) to get ready to attack the Greeks

7. What does Dillard say happens the moment you are aware of the present?
(a) you lose it
(b) it no longer matters
(c) it freezes
(d) it becomes the past

8. She claims the ability to see what is hidden is what?
(a) a gift
(b) a piece of luck
(c) a special talent
(d) fate

9. How does the author say one can obtain "unself-conscious state?"
(a) through meditation
(b) through intense exercise
(c) pure devotion to whatever one is doing at the moment
(d) through desperate illness

10. What does the author see as an active mystery?
(a) if the creek will ever get bigger
(b) whether it will rain that day
(c) Tinker Creek
(d) whether there's life after death

11. How does Dillard visualize the present?
(a) as the middle of everything
(b) as a wave that explodes over her head
(c) as a hummingbird that stops for nectar
(d) as a hawk soaring on the breeze

12. What is Dillard illustrating in her story about the Polyphemus moth from her childhood?
(a) moths have to spread their weeks when born
(b) kids are cruel
(c) she has a good memory
(d) the indifference humans often exhibit towards the natural world

13. In addition to form and texture, what does the author believe influences beauty?
(a) perception
(b) time of day
(c) time
(d) color

14. What about the creek creates healing sounds?
(a) the creek is sprinkled with large rocks, which enliven the water
(b) the lap of the water against the bank
(c) the sound of frogs jumping into the water
(d) the sound of fish jumping at dusk

15. When Dillard moves from describing details of creation to trying to understand more about creation what is she doing?
(a) moving from what to why
(b) trying to think too much
(c) getting a little strange
(d) moving from logic to mysticism

Short Answer Questions

1. What is figurative seeing?

2. What does Dillard find out when she takes her first course in French?

3. Why do the male praying mantis come near the female?

4. What does Dillard suggest is a similarity between her and plankton?

5. Even though she is no scientist, what did Dillard decide she will do in her valley?

(see the answer keys)

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