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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. What happened in Bridgeport, Connecticut one morning in April, 1987?

2. In an analogy about a photographer, why did the photographer say he brought the same rejected photograph for judgment every year?

3. As explained by Dillard in Chapter 1, what must be done to a piece of writing after the first draft is finished?

4. Where does the "line of words" go at the end of Chapter 1?

5. According to Dillard, how do painters work as opposed to writers?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, what does Dillard say she thinks of as the usual reasons for an author getting stuck in a book?

2. When Dillard was working in the library at night, how did she find her way around in the dark?

3. How does Dillard describe the way in which a writer might start the process of writing a book?

4. What is the most appealing schedule that Dillard says she knows?

5. Why does Dillard believe that putting together a book is interesting and exhilarating?

6. Why is 'the path' of the line of writing, as described in Chapter 1 by Dillard, not to be considered the actual work?

7. Why does Dillard believe a writer often wants to refrain from throwing away the beginnings of the work she has created?

8. Dillard vows to remember her difficulties writing in Roanoke, Virginia. Why is this ironic?

9. How does Dillard describe the line of words as being one's own heart?

10. Why does Dillard say that she made a pen drawing of the scenes outside her library window?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Dillard taped up her pen drawing of the scene outside her window to the venetian blinds. Explain how this helped her concentrate on her work.

What was missing in the drawing of the scene that was really outside the window? Why wasn't it enough for her to just close the blinds?

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

Dillard states that "Appealing workplaces are to be avoided."

1. Why might this be true?

2. How does Dillard know this to be true for her?

3. What should a writer's workplace consist of, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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