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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To what does Dillard compare writing a book?
(a) Learning to walk via crawling.
(b) Running a marathon.
(c) Climbing a long ladder.
(d) A reality television show.

2. Who said a long poem takes between five and ten years to write?
(a) Walt Whitman.
(b) Maya Angelou.
(c) Emily Dickinson.
(d) John Berryman.

3. Which book does Dillard say she discovered that she touched every night in the darkened library to find her room?
(a) The World Without Us.
(b) It's the End of the World.
(c) World's End.
(d) The World I Live In.

4. When Dillard relays a story about a cabdriver singing a boring song, why did the driver sing it twice?
(a) He wanted to bore the author.
(b) It was a throw-away song.
(c) It had taken him a long time to get it right.
(d) He was stalling for time.

5. Saint-Pol-Roux used to hang what sign on his door while he slept?
(a) "Resting is writing."
(b) "Do not disturb."
(c) "Dream in progress."
(d) "The poet is working."

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Dillard do one night in the rare book room of the Virginia library?

2. Who claimed to have written for twenty hours a day?

3. Who does Dillard say that she believes to be one of the most prolific writers who has ever lived?

4. Where does Dillard say she wound up putting her pen drawing in Chapter 2?

5. How long does it generally take to write a book?

(see the answer key)

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