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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. In what type of accommodation do Didion and her husband stay?

2. Who remained with the young's man's body?

3. Where does Didion hear that an accident happened?

4. What does Didion write about in this essay?

5. What does Didion feel trapped between when she visits her family?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Didion's upbringing in Sacramento.

2. Describe the movie on which Didion bases this essay.

3. Why does Didion decide to move to Los Angeles?

4. Describe Alcatraz Island as depicted in this essay.

5. Describe the accident in the mountains.

6. How does Didion feel when visiting Pearl Harbor?

7. How do the Los Angeles citizens know when the Santa Ana winds are about to blow?

8. Why does Didion think no one can truly define what is moral?

9. Describe the history of Sacramento.

10. What problems does Didion face when she and her husband visit her family?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What political viewpoint does Joan Didion come from and how does she express this viewpoint in her essays?

Essay Topic 2

What was the Donner party? Why was what they did seen as immoral? Do you think the two situations Didion presents on the morality are comparable? Why does she draw the comparison?

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.

(see the answer keys)

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