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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What denomination is the last church that the woman visits?
(a) Baptist.
(b) Methodist.
(c) Episcopalian.
(d) Congregationalist.

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

3. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?
(a) The man who thinks he is dying.
(b) The woman at the church.
(c) The main character.
(d) The landlady.

4. 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 reads the Koran and the Talmud.
(c) She looks out the window and watches the news.
(d) She shops for emergency supplies and fills her tub with water.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What detail in the description of the man's bedroom indicates how close the hurricane is getting?

2. Why are rams' horns being blown all around the city?

3. 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)?

4. Where is the woman's landlady from?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the woman realize about her religious belief and the calm she feels?

2. What arguments for and against including the newscasters in her story does the woman entertain?

3. What paradox related to religion does the woman encounter in writing her story?

4. What is the woman's story about, and what is its major flaw?

5. What happens when the woman visits a Baptist church?

6. Explain what the "yellow pall" is and what things in Davis's story it is attached to.

7. What contradiction does Davis's first sentence introduce?

8. What comment does the story make about paring a story down to the essentials, and what does this have to do with Davis's own style?

9. What book has the woman been reading, and what story is she specifically interested in?

10. Who are the people in the story that the writer is working on?

(see the answer keys)

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