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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "A Trip to Xanadu," what is the name of the pool at San Simeon?
(a) Neptune.
(b) Saturn.
(c) Venus.
(d) Jupiter.

2. What does Didion say she considered doing after receiving her rejection letter in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?
(a) Overdosing on pills.
(b) Running away.
(c) Slitting her wrists.
(d) Shooting herself.

3. How old is the man who speaks second in "Getting Serenity" who states that the city has "destroyed" (23) him?
(a) 75.
(b) 48.
(c) 22.
(d) 18.

4. Among what other items does Joan's rejection letter sit in a drawer at her mother's house in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?
(a) Joan's journals and publications.
(b) Bridesmaid photographs and dried butterfly orchids.
(c) Junk mail and old keys.
(d) Dead batteries and outdated electrical cords.

5. How does Nancy's son get home from school in "Pretty Nancy"?
(a) Schoolbus.
(b) A private car.
(c) Taxi.
(d) Nancy picks him up.

6. What are Didion and the TV crew there to observe Nancy doing in "Pretty Nancy"?
(a) Helping her son with his homework.
(b) Cooking for a dinner party.
(c) Whatever she would do on an average Tuesday morning.
(d) Writing her memoir.

7. What does the first speaker in "Getting Serenity" do before going out to the club?
(a) Shoot up.
(b) Drink 1/5 of vodka.
(c) Put her children to bed.
(d) Buy drugs.

8. What is the first speaker at the meeting Didion covers in "Getting Serenity" addicted to?
(a) BlackJack.
(b) Vodka.
(c) Draw-poker.
(d) Heroin.

9. What does Skip tell Joan about his son in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?
(a) He went AWOL.
(b) He has been missing since Mother's Day.
(c) He moved to Canada to avoid the draft.
(d) He hasn't talked to him in years.

10. What grade does Joan get on the essay she wrote for her friend in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?
(a) A.
(b) B-.
(c) C+.
(d) B+.

11. What does Didion say she did when she first read the college rejection letter in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?
(a) She cried.
(b) She did not really care.
(c) She tore the letter.
(d) She called her mom.

12. Where does Skip tell Joan he was stationed while in the 101st Airborne in "Fathers, Sons, Screaming Eagles"?
(a) VIetnam.
(b) Bastogne.
(c) Normandy.
(d) Hamburger Hill.

13. In what city in California does the meeting in "Getting Serenity" take place?
(a) Gardena.
(b) Hollywood.
(c) Sacramento.
(d) San Diego.

14. In what city does Didion meet Nancy in her home in "Pretty Nancy"?
(a) San Louis Obispo.
(b) Sacramento.
(c) San Francisco.
(d) San Diego.

15. What is the name of the castle Didion discusses at the start of "A Trip to Xanadu"?
(a) The Sacramento.
(b) Saint Simone.
(c) San Simeon.
(d) Castillo del Sol.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what grade does Joan's friend get on the essay she wrote for him in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice," how many applications does Joan say the private kindergarten her friend was trying to get her child into received?

2. Though Didion agrees that writing in underground newspapers is often "amateurish and badly written," she disagrees with what sentiment?

3. Which of Joan's relatives does she show her college rejection letter to in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?

4. Where does Joan begin taking classes after she was rejected from the college of her choice in "On Being Unchosen by the College of One's Choice"?

5. What type of flower does the TV newsman suggest Nancy pick in "Pretty Nancy"?

(see the answer keys)

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