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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. Who is the author of "The Center of the Story"?
(a) Doris Betts.
(b) Maile Chapman.
(c) Lydia Davis.
(d) Judith Frank.
2. Why does the man in the story feel so ill?
(a) He has the flu.
(b) He is having a heart attack.
(c) He has cancer.
(d) He has food poisoning.
3. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?
(a) She does not deserve the praise she has gotten.
(b) More than one of her stories is uninteresting.
(c) She is losing interest in her career.
(d) Her readers are gradually deserting her.
4. What is it logical to infer about the church women who are wearing red?
(a) They are worship leaders.
(b) They are the choir.
(c) They are ushers.
(d) They are collecting the offering.
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 religion.
(b) It is about friendship.
(c) It is about death.
(d) It is about fear.
Short Answer Questions
1. What detail in the description of the man indicates how ill he feels?
2. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?
3. What technique is used in the phrase "the stink of burning hair, fur, and horn" (19)?
4. How does the woman realize her study of religion has made her feel?
5. What specific Biblical story does the writer focus on?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why does the woman watch the news so often, and what does she hear on the news that makes her feel exicted?
2. Why does the man in the main character's story think that he is dying, and what does he do about it?
3. What does the woman realize about her religious belief and the calm she feels?
4. What book has the woman been reading, and what story is she specifically interested in?
5. In the end of "The Center of the Story," what does the woman realize about the emptiness at the center of her story?
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 did the woman originally begin her story with that she later decides to edit out?
9. 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?
10. When the woman is riding the train, after the hurricane has passed, what two realizations does she come to?
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This section contains 999 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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