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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Dillard say that she believes may well be a writer's only firsthand experience?
(a) Travel.
(b) Childhood.
(c) Friendships.
(d) College.

2. Why did Dillard momentarily feel she must quit writing in Chapter 3?
(a) She was too young to be living at a desk.
(b) She had nothing new to say.
(c) She was not good at it.
(d) She was addicted to cigarettes.

3. What body of water did Dillard write near in Washington State?
(a) The Columbia River.
(b) Puget Sound.
(c) Strait of Georgia.
(d) Port of Vancouver.

4. What did Dillard study in Chapter 5?
(a) Exhilaration.
(b) Paintboxes.
(c) Literature.
(d) The world.

5. What was the result of Dillard's first attempts at splitting wood in Chapter 3?
(a) She cut herself with the axe.
(b) Tiny wedges got chopped off.
(c) She split fine logs.
(d) She missed the wood every time.

6. Why does it make more sense to write one big book rather than a collection of stories or essays, in Dillard's opinion?
(a) It does not take as long to write one big book.
(b) There is more money to be made with a book.
(c) A cast of characters is easier to work with.
(d) You can fit all you possess into a long project.

7. How long does the twilight linger on the island on Haro Strait in June and July?
(a) Until nine at night.
(b) Until dawn.
(c) Until seven p.m.
(d) Until nearly midnight.

8. Who once said that '..his firewood warmed him twice because he labored to cut his own'?
(a) Joyce.
(b) James.
(c) Thoreau.
(d) Whitman.

9. How did Dillard come to understand the proper way to split wood?
(a) The neighbors told her.
(b) Via a dream.
(c) She watched an instructional video.
(d) By sheer luck.

10. What does the novel as a form usually represent, according to Dillard?
(a) History.
(b) Society.
(c) Poetry.
(d) Non-commericialism.

11. Referring to a new idea, who said, 'Cheep--and all at once there it is'?
(a) Stevens.
(b) Wilder.
(c) Boehme.
(d) Einstein.

12. What did Frederick Buechner note about an author realizing that he is actually writing?
(a) The wood must be split and fired.
(b) It calls for a break or celebration.
(c) The writer should revise what was written.
(d) It must go on once it is noticed.

13. What does Dillard say that she thinks an artist supposes a live image to possess?
(a) A secret to be discovered.
(b) A confused set of lines.
(c) Something he should pretend to know.
(d) Some technique stolen from him.

14. When Dillard lacked sufficient energy for writing one morning in Chapter 3, what does she say she did to try and get it?
(a) Split some wood and smoked.
(b) Smoked and drank coffee.
(c) Played the recorder.
(d) Ran a few miles and ate.

15. What question did Dillard ask Glenn that he answered with the story of Ferrar?
(a) How far it was to Fishery Point.
(b) How his work was going.
(c) How the waters were.
(d) What the weather was like now.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Where was Ferrar heading as he rowed against the current all night?

3. As put by Dillard, what is the vision in a writer's or painter's work?

4. What two problems does Dillard say she feels that a writer must solve when writing a book?

5. Dillard repeated the phrase, 'It is the grave of Jesus, where he lay' over and over like a song in Chapter 5. What poem is this line from?

(see the answer keys)

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