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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. Why was the woman reading the Bible during the period she writes about in her story?
(a) Because she wanted to use Biblical allusions in her writing.
(b) Because it was the High Holy Days.
(c) Because she wanted to know exactly what it said.
(d) Because she needed comfort during the hurricane.

2. 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) Allusion.
(b) Personification.
(c) Allegory.
(d) Simile.

3. What does the landlady say the mayor gave her?
(a) A stove.
(b) Carpet.
(c) Flowers.
(d) An award.

4. What can be inferred about the woman from the description of the women who try to get her to sit down at their church?
(a) She is White.
(b) She is Jewish.
(c) She is not a Christian.
(d) She is not Black.

5. Why does the main character find that the story she is working on is not an easy one to write?
(a) It is about friendship.
(b) It is about religion.
(c) It is about death.
(d) It is about fear.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "The Center of the Story"?

2. What specific Biblical story does the writer focus on?

3. What technique is used in the sentence: "Outside her apartment, the weather was changing: the wind rose, the branches swayed on the young trees, and the leaves fluttered" (19)?

4. Why does the man in the story feel so ill?

5. The man tells the woman that he has committed "blasphemy" (20). What has he done?

(see the answer key)

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