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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Dillard believes that some writers weaken their resolve to discard parts of their work. Why?
2. Jack London maintained that every writer needs a technique, experience, and what else?
3. What animal, according to Dillard, is an analogy for characters in a writer's book "taking over"?
4. What does Dillard have to say about appealing workplaces for writing?
5. Under what circumstances did Rabbi Uri of Strelisk tell his family to dispose of his manuscripts?
Short Essay Questions
1. When Dillard glanced in the daylight at one of the stacks of books she regularly touched to feel her way at night, what surprised her?
2. What is the meaning of Thoreau's note that "The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or perchance a palace or temple on the earth, and at length the middle-aged man concludes to build a wood-shed with them"?
3. Dillard describes the scenes from her desk at the library in Virginia. Why does she say these scenes are detrimental to her work?
4. What, outside Dillard's library window, proved to cause the most distraction to her work?
5. Why does Dillard say that she made a pen drawing of the scenes outside her library window?
6. What analogy does Dillard use to explain how a book leads its writer on?
7. Why does Dillard believe a writer often wants to refrain from throwing away the beginnings of the work she has created?
8. What decision did Dillard make to finally shut herself off from all distractions at the library carrel?
9. When Dillard heard a June bug bumping up against the carrel window one night, what did the noise bring her to realize?
10. Why is 'the path' of the line of writing, as described in Chapter 1 by Dillard, not to be considered the actual work?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What is meant by Thoreau's statement to "know your own bone"? How is this advice helpful to a writer?
Essay Topic 2
Dillard has problems with her writing throughout the book. She cannot concentrate, gets distracted, and cannot produce anything on some days. How did Dillard overcome her problems? What led her to better understand herself and the work she does?
Essay Topic 3
In working-class France, when an apprentice was hurt, the more experienced worker told him that "it is the trade entering his body." What is meant by this statement? How can art or creativity enter the body? How must a writer accommodate herself to the writing?
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This section contains 1,082 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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