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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What detail of the woman's train ride reinforces the motif of things that come close to happening but do not actually happen?
2. Who is with the landlady when the landlady is talking about the mayor?
3. What does the narrator say "usually promises to be interesting" (19)?
4. 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)?
5. Why are rams' horns being blown all around the city?
Short Essay Questions
1. What book has the woman been reading, and what story is she specifically interested in?
2. Who are the people in the story that the writer is working on?
3. Why does the woman watch the news so often, and what does she hear on the news that makes her feel exicted?
4. What contradiction does Davis's first sentence introduce?
5. When the woman is riding the train, after the hurricane has passed, what two realizations does she come to?
6. Why does the man in the main character's story think that he is dying, and what does he do about it?
7. What paradox related to religion does the woman encounter in writing her story?
8. In the end of "The Center of the Story," what does the woman realize about the emptiness at the center of her story?
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. How is the story that the woman is writing similar to the earth and different from a hurricane?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Write an essay that analyzes the significance of the fly that the writer ends up spending her time watching at the Baptist church. Support your essay with evidence from the text, and be sure to cite any outside sources in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay that analyzes the significance of the "center" of things in "The Center of the Story." Defend your claims with textual evidence.
Essay Topic 3
Go online and read both some of the poetry of Emily Dickinson and what critics have to say about her writing. Then, write a brief comparison and contrast essay in which you analyze what is similar and what is different in Dickinson's and Davis's styles. Be sure to use textual evidence from both authors and to cite all sources in MLA format (including sources of criticism.)
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This section contains 969 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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