1. How did Dillard get into the library in Roanoke late at night?
(a) The door was never locked.
(b) She had a key.
(c) She climbed in through a window.
(d) She hid in the women's room when the door was locked.

2. Under what circumstances did Rabbi Uri of Strelisk tell his family to dispose of his manuscripts?
(a) If praying should kill him.
(b) If writing became the death of him.
(c) If there was a risk of fire.
(d) If he should die on his way to prayers.

3. Dillard refers to writing as changing "..from an expression of your notions to an epistemological tool." What does epistemological mean?
(a) Surgical incision of the perineum during childbirth.
(b) Greek knowledge.
(c) A philosophy concerned with the nature and origin of knowledge.
(d) Bacterial DNA that is extrachromosomal.

4. What does Dillard say shocked her as she remembered a formal lunch with a publishing colleague in Chapter 2?
(a) Her plants dying.
(b) Her lack of entertaining people.
(c) The sexist terms the man used.
(d) The fanaticism of her twenties.

5. What was seen outside the carrel window in Roanoke when Dillard peeked outside the blinds?
(a) A May beetle.
(b) Fireworks.
(c) Daylight.
(d) The parking lot.

Short Answer Questions

1. What famous author said, "The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon....and at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a wood-shed with them"?

2. According to Dillard, how do painters work as opposed to writers?

3. Which book does Dillard say she discovered that she touched every night in the darkened library to find her room?

4. Which religious sect did Dillard read about in the Virginia library?

5. When a writer is stuck while writing a book, what does Dillard think he should do?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 362 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)

View a FREE sample