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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: The Center of the Story.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What technique is used in the sentence: "The story is flat and even, just as the earth seems flat and even when a hurricane is advancing over it" (19)?
(a) Allegory.
(b) Personification.
(c) Simile.
(d) Allusion.

2. The man tells the woman that he has committed "blasphemy" (20). What has he done?
(a) Told a harmful lie about someone.
(b) Shown disrespect to God.
(c) Contemplated suicide.
(d) Cursed God's name.

3. Who is the author of "The Center of the Story"?
(a) Judith Frank.
(b) Doris Betts.
(c) Maile Chapman.
(d) Lydia Davis.

4. What technique is used in the phrase "the stink of burning hair, fur, and horn" (19)?
(a) Imagery.
(b) Onomatopoeia.
(c) Synesthesia.
(d) Assonance.

5. What does the narrator say "usually promises to be interesting" (19)?
(a) A religious crisis.
(b) A hurricane.
(c) A death.
(d) A flood.

Short Answer Questions

1. For the majority of the story, what tone does the narrator adopt?

2. After completing her first draft of the story, what does the woman realize about it?

3. Why was the woman reading the Bible during the period she writes about in her story?

4. What detail in the description of the man indicates how ill he feels?

5. Why does the main character find that the story she is working on is not an easy one to write?

(see the answer key)

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