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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. At the island on Haro Strait, why would a man overboard die within ten minutes?
(a) There were sharks.
(b) The water was very cold.
(c) The channel made the water unswimmable.
(d) The whales were numerous.

2. What passage was Dillard working on in the cabin on Puget Sound while a northeaster was blowing?
(a) A passage about a wild child.
(b) A marble statue of a Greek funerary.
(c) Rows of breaker waves resembling lines of writing.
(d) Christ's baptism in the bay in front of the house.

3. In Dillard's thoughts, what words stopped Rebbe Shmelke from hearing his teacher?
(a) "God bless you."
(b) "The Lord spoke."
(c) "Amen."
(d) "So be it."

4. Where does the "line of words" go at the end of Chapter 1?
(a) To Venus.
(b) To Houston, Texas.
(c) Out past Jupiter.
(d) To the sun.

5. What does Dillard say that she feels a writer must do about feeling one's work in progress is either magnificent or abominable?
(a) Ignore it and not indulge in the feeling.
(b) Celebrate or cry.
(c) Get the work critiqued.
(d) Ask for help from readers.

Short Answer Questions

1. What, according to Dillard, is the first thing a writer does that is similar to what a painter does?

2. What part of the body does the "line of words" in Chapter 1 invade?

3. Who watched Dillard chop wood every morning in Washington?

4. What does Dillard say shocked her as she remembered a formal lunch with a publishing colleague in Chapter 2?

5. What does Dillard say many people prefer to the written word?

(see the answer key)

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