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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the woman think might be preventing her from committing to a center for her story?
(a) Curiosity.
(b) Laziness.
(c) Hope.
(d) Fear.

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

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

4. For the majority of the story, what tone does the narrator adopt?
(a) Amused.
(b) Objective.
(c) Melancholic.
(d) Dismissive.

5. What detail in the description of the man indicates how ill he feels?
(a) The way his ribs protrude.
(b) The sounds he is making.
(c) The color of his face.
(d) The smell coming from his skin.

6. In what religion are the High Holy Days a sacred time?
(a) Christianity.
(b) Islam.
(c) Judaism.
(d) Hinduism.

7. What does the sick man want when he calls the main character?
(a) He wants her advice about whether to go to the hospital.
(b) He wants to talk about death and the afterlife.
(c) He wants to apologize for the argument they recently had.
(d) He wants her to come over and help him.

8. After completing her first draft of the story, what does the woman realize about it?
(a) She is losing touch with her passion as a writer.
(b) She understands more about herself and her life now that she has written it.
(c) She is afraid that the content of the story will upset her friend.
(d) She cannot remember why she wanted to write it in the first place.

9. 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) Allegory.
(c) Simile.
(d) Personification.

10. How does the woman realize her study of religion has made her feel?
(a) Guilty.
(b) Energized.
(c) Confused.
(d) Peaceful.

11. For what reason, besides that "there may not be enough to tell about him," does the woman think that the man might not be the right "center" for her story (20)?
(a) The man will be angry that she wrote about him.
(b) This might not be the right time to tell his story.
(c) She is unclear about how she feels about the man.
(d) There is no real resolution to his story.

12. 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 needed comfort during the hurricane.
(d) Because she wanted to know exactly what it said.

13. On her train ride, what does the woman realize she has not given much thought to?
(a) Her next story.
(b) Her friend's illness.
(c) The devil.
(d) The newscasters.

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

15. Besides reading the Bible, what else does the woman spend her time doing in the period of time her story is about?
(a) She calls each of her family members and friends.
(b) She shops for emergency supplies and fills her tub with water.
(c) She looks out the window and watches the news.
(d) She reads the Koran and the Talmud.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. 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)?

3. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?

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

5. What is it logical to infer about the church women who are wearing red?

(see the answer keys)

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