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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Dillard describe the process of writing a book?
(a) "It is something to avoid at all costs."
(b) "It is boring and difficult."
(c) "It is a dreamlike task."
(d) "It is life at its most free."

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

3. Why did Dillard feel that an author must visit her work every day?
(a) To reassert mastery over it.
(b) To be brave about it.
(c) To hope it will get better.
(d) To feel sympathy for it.

4. Who claimed to have written for twenty hours a day?
(a) Jack London.
(b) Wallace Stevens.
(c) Edgar Allen Poe.
(d) James Patterson.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Dillard do one night in the rare book room of the Virginia library?

2. 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"?

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

4. Where did Dillard forget about a boiling teakettle and burn it?

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

(see the answer key)

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