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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 did the schoolchildren who visited O'Connor's farm call the peacock's smaller, gray tail?

2. Who does O'Connor quote at the end of "The Fiction Writer and His Country"?

3. From what newspaper was the photographer who visited O'Connor at her home?

4. Thomas Mann said that the grotesque is what style?

5. Where was Faulkner at home?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does O'Connor believe Southern writers are anguished?

2. How does O'Connor feel about the fiction writer using symbols?

3. What does O'Connor say about those who have the gift for writing?

4. What does O'Connor mean when she says a writer must find his location in order to do his best work?

5. How does O'Connor feel about short stories?

6. How does having lost the Civil War make Southerners better writers, according to O'Connor?

7. What dream did O'Connor have at the end of "The King of the Birds"?

8. How did the peafowl feel about O'Connor after nine years?

9. What does O'Connor say about reality in fiction writing?

10. How does O'Connor describe grotesque writing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore O'Connor's feelings about the peahen. What does she seem to admire about the female birds? Why do you think her admiration of them is so brief? What does her admiration of the female birds seem to represent?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the way O'Connor uses her own story about a family of six, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," to highlight her plea for readers to stop over analyzing her work. What does she say typically happens when the story is read? How would she like readers to read this story? Why do you think she would prefer readers to stop trying to figure this story and her other works out?

Essay Topic 3

Explore O'Connor's obsession with chickens and then peafowl. Discuss how her obsession for birds grows after the photographer comes to visit. Why do you think her obsession follows his visit? What feelings does O'Connor seem to have about the photographer's visit? Consider the fact that he never visits again. A spokesperson from each group should tell the class what the group talked about.

(see the answer keys)

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