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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: The Center of the Story.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does the man in the story feel so ill?
(a) He has cancer.
(b) He has food poisoning.
(c) He has the flu.
(d) He is having a heart attack.

2. What does the narrator say "usually promises to be interesting" (19)?
(a) A death.
(b) A flood.
(c) A religious crisis.
(d) A hurricane.

3. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?
(a) More than one of her stories is uninteresting.
(b) She does not deserve the praise she has gotten.
(c) Her readers are gradually deserting her.
(d) She is losing interest in her career.

4. What detail in the description of the man's bedroom indicates how close the hurricane is getting?
(a) The television weather forecast.
(b) The flickering electricity.
(c) The drawn blinds.
(d) The windows rattling.

5. What technique is used in the sentence: "The story is flat and even, just as the earth seems flat and even when a hurricane is advancing over it" (19)?
(a) Personification.
(b) Allegory.
(c) Simile.
(d) Allusion.

Short Answer Questions

1. On her train ride, what does the woman realize she has not given much thought to?

2. What does the woman think might be preventing her from committing to a center for her story?

3. Who is the author of "The Center of the Story"?

4. The man tells the woman that he has committed "blasphemy" (20). What has he done?

5. Who is with the landlady when the landlady is talking about the mayor?

(see the answer key)

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