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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) You can fit all you possess into a long project.
(d) A cast of characters is easier to work with.

2. What did Dillard use to crank herself up to write, in the log cabin in Chapter 3?
(a) A daily jog on the beach.
(b) Photos of lions.
(c) Coffee in titrated doses.
(d) The company of a cat and dog.

3. What made the teakettle in the faculty lounge look so interesting in Chapter 3?
(a) It had a clothespin jutting from its mouth.
(b) It had a picture of an Aztec on it.
(c) It was only large enough for 8 ounces of liquid.
(d) It was in the shape of a cow.

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

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?
(a) Valley Candle.
(b) The Well Dressed Man with a Beard.
(c) Poem Written at Morning.
(d) Sunday Morning.

6. Where did Dillard forget about a boiling teakettle and burn it?
(a) A cabin on Puget Sound.
(b) Her kitchen.
(c) An office in a college.
(d) A faculty lounge in a university.

7. Where was Ferrar heading as he rowed against the current all night?
(a) To the Haro Straits.
(b) Toward the San Juan Islands.
(c) Toward home.
(d) To Fishery Point.

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

9. What did a Dinka believe his own memories and daydreams to be?
(a) Psychologically important.
(b) The meaning of life.
(c) External to himself.
(d) An extension of himself.

10. What did Dillard realize when she spoke to the local sheriff in Chapter 3?
(a) She was a good, sane person.
(b) She was like one who worked in a factory all day.
(c) She loved writing.
(d) She loved running a ferryboat.

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

12. How does society regard the writer, in Dillard's experience?
(a) With indifference.
(b) With fear.
(c) With curiosity.
(d) WIth adulation.

13. Why did Dillard write that 'People should not feed moralistic animals'?
(a) Her cat pushed its empty food bowl around.
(b) Her cat stretched out and turned its back to her.
(c) Her dog looked at her and rolled its eyes.
(d) Her dog trotted around the room, head up in the air.

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

15. Whose poetry did Dillard usually read aloud when on a break?
(a) Walt Whitman's.
(b) Ralph Waldo Emerson's.
(c) Frederick Buechner's.
(d) Conrad Aiken's.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dillard say that she believes a writer should aim for when writing?

2. According to Glenn's story, what was Ferrar after in the water?

3. What does Dillard say that she thinks happens to something, such as a writing idea, that you do not give up freely and abundantly?

4. How does Dillard say that she defines the life of the writer in Chapter 3?

5. What did Frederick Buechner note about an author realizing that he is actually writing?

(see the answer keys)

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