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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. With what was Cork Miller having problems?

2. What did Cork originally want to do when he moved to San Bernardino?

3. What does Lucille's husband do for a living?

4. Who was the only one on set who it is said did not make his/her opinions known?

5. What is the title of the second part of the book?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Didion think of Baez when she interviews her?

2. What do Didion's notes help her to realize?

3. What does Didion remember about the first movie in which she saw John Wayne?

4. How do people treat their marriages in Las Vegas?

5. How has Las Vegas turned marriage into a big business?

6. Why did Didion choose Howard Hughes as her subject?

7. What is Didion's opinion of John Wayne?

8. Why did Didion find the essay on the Center of Study of Democratic Institutions so difficult?

9. What is Didion's view on the center?

10. Why did Joan Baez become a performer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the famous people Didion portrays in the book and examine his/her life. How does Didion represent him or her in the essay? Is this an accurate representation of this person?

Essay Topic 2

How much do the students think what Didion remembers about the Sacramento Valley is merely nostalgia? How do you think the children living there now will remember the Sacramento Valley? How does Didion's nostalgia either take away or add to the validity to the points Didion tries to make?

Essay Topic 3

Write a 500-word essay addressing the following statement: None of Didion's peers challenge her beliefs and, because of that, her essays do not express any new ideas.

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