Toggle navigation

|

? HELP

study guides
lesson plans
bios
essays
homework help
Blog
Sign In

Can't and Won't Quiz

Lydia Davis

This Study Guide consists of approximately 56 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Can't and Won't.

Can't and Won't by Lydia Davis

Get Can't and Won't from Amazon.com

View the Study Pack

Study Guide

Order our Can't and Won't Study Guide

Show Section Navigation

+Chapters Summary and Analysis

Section One: A Story of Stolen Salamis,The Dog Hair,Circular Story, Idea for a Sign

Section One: Bloomington, The Cook's Lesson, At the Bank, Awake in the Night

Section One: At the Bank: 2, The Two Davises and the Rug, Contingency (vs. Necessity), Brief Incident in Short a, Long a, and Schwa

Section One: Contingency (vs. Necessity) 2: On Vacation,A Story Told to Me By A Friend, The Bad Novel, After You Left

Section One: The Bodyguard, The Child, The Churchyard, My Sister and the Queen of England

Section One: The Visit to the Dentist, Letter to a Frozen Peas Manufacturer, The Cornmeal

Section Two: Two Undertakers, I Ask Mary About Her Friend, the Depressive, and His Vacation, The Magic of the Train, Eating Fish Alone

Section Two: Can’t and Won’t, Pouchet’s Wife, Dinner, The Dog

Section Two: The Grandmother, The Dreadful Mucamas, Reversible Story, A Woman, Thirty

Section Two: How I Know What I Was Like (Six Versions), Handel, The Force of the Subliminal,Her Geography: Alabama

Section Two: The Funeral, The Husband Seekers, In the Gallery, The Low Sun

Section Two: The Landing, The Language of the Telephone Company, The Coachman and the Worm, Letter to a Marketing Manager

Section 3: The Last of the Mohicans, Grade Two Assignment, Master, An Awkward Situation

Section 3: Housekeeping Observation, The Execution, A Note from the Paperboy, In the Train Station

Section 3: The Moon, My Footsteps, How I Read as Quickly as Possible, Notes During a Long Phone Conversation with Mother

Section Three: Men, Negative Emotions, I'm Pretty Comfortable, Judgment

Section Three: The Chairs, My Friend’s Creation, The Piano, The Party

Section Three: Cows, The Exhibition, Letter to a Peppermint Candy Company, Her Geography: Illinois

Section 4: Odon von Horvath Out Walking, On the Train, The Seals, Learning Medieval History

Section 4: My School Friend, The Piano Lesson, The Schoolchildren, Molly

Section 4: The Letter to the Foundation, Revise:1, Short Conversations, Revise:2

Section 4: Waiting for Takeoff, Industry, Two Characters, The Language of Things, The Washerwomen

Section 5: My Childhood Friend, Hello Dear, Not Interested

Section 5: Old Woman, Old Fish, The Song, Two Former Students

Section 5: A Small Story about A Box of Chocolates, Writing, The Rooster

Section 5: The Old Soldier, Two Sligo Lads, The Woman in Red

Section 5: If At the Wedding at the Zoo, The Gold Digger of Goldfields, Local Obits, Letter to the President, Nancy Brown, Ph.D.

Symbols and Symbolism

Themes and Motifs

Styles

Quotes

Order our Can't and Won't Study Guide

Related Topics

The Center of the Story

End of the Story

The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis

Can't and Won't Quiz

Lydia Davis

This Study Guide consists of approximately 56 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Can't and Won't.

Buy and print the Can

Print

Buy and download the Can

Word

Buy and download the Can

PDF

Take our free Can't and Won't quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

Directions: Click on the correct answer.

Questions 1-5 of 25:

1.

In Section Five, Not Interested, what is the narrator not interested in doing? (from Section 5: My Childhood Friend, Hello Dear, Not Interested)

Singing songs.

Taking walks.

Cleaning house.

Reading books.

2.

In Section Three, My Footsteps, what does the narrator see in her dream? (from Section 3: The Moon, My Footsteps, How I Read as Quickly as Possible, Notes During a Long Phone Conversation with Mother)

Her footprints are lighted.

A woman in a red hat.

Her shadow.

Her sister.

3.

In Section Four, My School Friend, what does the reader learn happened at the botanical gardens when it was a private home? (from Section 4: My School Friend, The Piano Lesson, The Schoolchildren, Molly)

The revolution was fought there.

A man committed suicide.

It was the site of a battle.

A medieval fair would happen each year.

4.

In Section Five, A Small Story about a Box of Chocolates, where does she get the box of chocolates from initially? (from Section 5: A Small Story about A Box of Chocolates, Writing, The Rooster)

Her husband.

A store in Philadelphia.

A friend in Vienna.

Some of her students.

5.

How did Pouchet's Wife die? (from Section Two: Can’t and Won’t, Pouchet’s Wife, Dinner, The Dog)

She died of a heart attack while riding her horse.

She drowned.

Someone threw a stone at her in the streets.

Her husband killed her.

More summaries and resources for teaching or studying Can't and Won't.

Browse all BookRags Study Guides.

Copyrights

Can't and Won't from BookRags. (c)2026 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved.

BookRags

About BookRags | Customer Service | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

Copyright 2026 by BookRags, Inc.

FOLLOW BOOKRAGS:

Follow BookRags on Facebook

Follow BookRags on Twitter

Follow BookRags on Pinterest