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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How long did it take William Faulkner to write "As I Lay Dying"?
(a) Ten years.
(b) Six years.
(c) Six months.
(d) Six weeks.

2. What does Dillard say that the printed word cannot compete with?
(a) Travel.
(b) Music.
(c) People.
(d) The movies.

3. How did Washington writer, Charlie Butts, write fiction in order to gain momentum?
(a) He wrote while running mindless errands.
(b) He repeatedly left the house and wrote quickly upon return.
(c) He left every last written page in the middle of a sentence.
(d) He did not rise from his chair until writing 10 pages.

4. What animal, according to Dillard, is an analogy for characters in a writer's book "taking over"?
(a) A shark.
(b) The lion.
(c) The caterpillar.
(d) The sea star.

5. What do television and films do to the body's senses, according to Dillard?
(a) Numb them.
(b) Stimulate them.
(c) Make connections.
(d) They make the writer sense the need to write.

Short Answer Questions

1. What question does Dillard say a writer must ask when considering random scenes that come to mind?

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

3. Dillard refers to writing as changing "..from an expression of your notions to an epistemological tool." What does epistemological mean?

4. How long does it generally take to write a book?

5. What did an inchworm search for in a panic in Chapter 1?

(see the answer key)

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