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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. Who is the author of "The Center of the Story"?
(a) Lydia Davis.
(b) Doris Betts.
(c) Maile Chapman.
(d) Judith Frank.

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

3. Why are rams' horns being blown all around the city?
(a) It is Hanukkah.
(b) It is Rosh Hashanah.
(c) It is Sukkot.
(d) It is Yom Kippur.

4. Who is "thinking of writing a letter to the President" (20)?
(a) The main character.
(b) The woman at the church.
(c) The man who thinks he is dying.
(d) The landlady.

5. What can be inferred about the woman from the description of the women who try to get her to sit down at their church?
(a) She is not a Christian.
(b) She is not Black.
(c) She is White.
(d) She is Jewish.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What technique is used in the sentence: "Outside her apartment, the weather was changing: the wind rose, the branches swayed on the young trees, and the leaves fluttered" (19)?

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

4. What detail in the description of the man indicates how ill he feels?

5. In the story's opening sentence, what is implied about the main character's writing?

(see the answer key)

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