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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Dillard say that she defines the life of the writer in Chapter 3?
(a) As ludicrous.
(b) As colorless.
(c) As sensory.
(d) As literary.

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

3. What two problems does Dillard say she feels that a writer must solve when writing a book?
(a) Can it be done? and, Can I do it?
(b) Can I keep track of characters? and, What do I name them?
(c) Can I write each sentence? and, Can I string them together?
(d) Where is my plot? and, How do I end this?

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dillard say that she thinks an artist supposes a live image to possess?

2. Who once said that '..his firewood warmed him twice because he labored to cut his own'?

3. Who or what will teach someone to write, according to Dillard in Chapter 3?

4. What does the novel as a form usually represent, according to Dillard?

5. Who did Dillard's neighbor, Glenn, tell her about when she returned to the island in late June?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 4, Dillard's typewriter erupted. What was the damage done?

2. Why does Dillard say that she needed more materials than a pencil and paper in order to write something like a second draft for a thirty-page chapter?

3. How does Dillard say that she believes a writer must control his or her own energies in order to work?

4. What did Dillard learn from the local ferryman?

5. What was Glenn's story about Ferrar Burn?

6. Why does Dillard say it makes more sense to write one big book than to write many stories or essays?

7. Why does Dillard compare a writer writing a first draft to a Zulu warrior and an Aztec maiden?

8. Why does Dillard say that the life of the mind of a writer is hard to be called "living"?

9. In Chapter 5, how does Dillard compare a writer to a tennis player?

10. How does a work in progress turn on its author, according to Dillard?

(see the answer keys)

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