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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the life of a Danish aristocrat mentioned in Chapter 2, what did he do for most of the day?
(a) Swam.
(b) Hunted.
(c) Ate.
(d) Napped.

2. What does Dillard say that she feels a writer must do about feeling one's work in progress is either magnificent or abominable?
(a) Get the work critiqued.
(b) Ignore it and not indulge in the feeling.
(c) Celebrate or cry.
(d) Ask for help from readers.

3. Dillard believes that some writers weaken their resolve to discard parts of their work. Why?
(a) It is too much work.
(b) They believe every word they write is too important to discard.
(c) The words have come to have a necessary quality.
(d) People have told them it is too good to discard.

4. What does Dillard's "line of words" do with random pictures in the writer's mind?
(a) Dissects them out.
(b) Dismisses them.
(c) Writes them down, word for word.
(d) Dreams of them.

5. When Dillard is watching symbols move on her monitor, which sends back numbers to her, what is it her job to do?
(a) Hold her breath.
(b) Translate the numbers.
(c) Stop immediately.
(d) Go for a drive.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Dillard wrote in Roanoke, Virginia, what did she long for upon coming home after writing?

2. How did Dillard get into the library in Roanoke late at night?

3. Where does the "line of words" go at the end of Chapter 1?

4. What does Dillard say shocked her as she remembered a formal lunch with a publishing colleague in Chapter 2?

5. To what does Dillard compare writing a book?

(see the answer key)

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