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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 specific Biblical story does the writer focus on?
(a) The Trials of Job.
(b) Jonah and the Great Fish.
(c) The Garden of Eden.
(d) Noah's Ark.

2. What detail of the woman's train ride reinforces the motif of things that come close to happening but do not actually happen?
(a) Her distance from the city.
(b) The direction she is traveling.
(c) The water level.
(d) Her thoughts about religion.

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

4. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?
(a) More than one of her stories is uninteresting.
(b) Her readers are gradually deserting her.
(c) She does not deserve the praise she has gotten.
(d) She is losing interest in her career.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the woman think might be preventing her from committing to a center for her story?

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

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

4. What does the hurricane do to the city in the woman's story?

5. Who is with the landlady when the landlady is talking about the mayor?

(see the answer key)

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