View a FREE sample

This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 4, 5 and 6.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

3. What does the impulse to save something good for a better place later signify, according to Dillard?
(a) It should be forgotten.
(b) It should be used now.
(c) It should be used later.
(d) It should be hoarded.

4. Saint-Pol-Roux used to hang what sign on his door while he slept?
(a) "Do not disturb."
(b) "Resting is writing."
(c) "Dream in progress."
(d) "The poet is working."

5. What did Dillard once describe a moth on a ship as doing?
(a) Being stepped on by someone.
(b) Taking off before she could draw it.
(c) Losing altitude and drowning.
(d) Taking flight like a hummingbird.

Short Answer Questions

1. What passage was Dillard working on in the cabin on Puget Sound while a northeaster was blowing?

2. When Dillard lacked sufficient energy for writing one morning in Chapter 3, what does she say she did to try and get it?

3. What does Dillard's "line of words" do with random pictures in the writer's mind?

4. What is needed in the world more than another excellent manuscript, as far as Dillard is concerned?

5. What part of the body does the "line of words" in Chapter 1 invade?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 316 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample