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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapters 4, 5 and 6.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does society regard the writer, in Dillard's experience?
(a) With fear.
(b) WIth adulation.
(c) With indifference.
(d) With curiosity.

2. Why was Dillard's finger in pain at times as she wrote in the university office in Virginia?
(a) She spilled hot water on her fingers once in a while.
(b) She got paper cuts.
(c) Her fingers cramped up from writing for so long.
(d) She had a clothespin stuck to her finger until the water boiled.

3. Which poem did Dillard often read aloud?
(a) The Comet.
(b) The Tower.
(c) Sea Hollly.
(d) Miracles.

4. How did a well-known writer respond to a student in Chapter 5 who asked if he could be a writer?
(a) What do you know about the world?
(b) Have you taken my course?
(c) Do you have imagination?
(d) Do you like sentences?

5. How do Tibetan lamas keep from floating away, as described in Chapter 5?
(a) They swim with the current.
(b) They walk very slowly.
(c) The meditate towards the destination.
(d) They wear chains.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who did Dillard's neighbor, Glenn, tell her about when she returned to the island in late June?

2. What two problems does Dillard say she feels that a writer must solve when writing a book?

3. Why did Dillard feel that an author must visit her work every day?

4. What does Dillard describe as 'a net for catching days' in Chapter 2?

5. What does Dillard say she believes poets and novelists like?

(see the answer key)

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