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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. How does the woman realize her study of religion has made her feel?
(a) Guilty.
(b) Peaceful.
(c) Energized.
(d) Confused.

3. Why was the woman reading the Bible during the period she writes about in her story?
(a) Because she wanted to know exactly what it said.
(b) Because it was the High Holy Days.
(c) Because she wanted to use Biblical allusions in her writing.
(d) Because she needed comfort during the hurricane.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the landlady say the mayor gave her?

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

3. For the majority of the story, what tone does the narrator adopt?

4. What detail of the woman's train ride reinforces the motif of things that come close to happening but do not actually happen?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What contradiction does Davis's first sentence introduce?

2. What arguments for and against including the newscasters in her story does the woman entertain?

3. What paradox related to religion does the woman encounter in writing her story?

4. What does the woman realize about her religious belief and the calm she feels?

5. Who are the people in the story that the writer is working on?

6. Why does the woman watch the news so often, and what does she hear on the news that makes her feel exicted?

7. In the end of "The Center of the Story," what does the woman realize about the emptiness at the center of her story?

8. Explain what the "yellow pall" is and what things in Davis's story it is attached to.

9. Why does the man in the main character's story think that he is dying, and what does he do about it?

10. What comment does the story make about paring a story down to the essentials, and what does this have to do with Davis's own style?

(see the answer keys)

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