The Year of Magical Thinking Quizzes

The Year of Magical Thinking Quiz 1

1 When did Didion write the first words after John's death?
June 2004

December 2004

January 2004

May 2004
2 What are the first words of the book?
The question of self-pity.

Life changes fast.

Life changes in an instant.

Life sudden changes.
3 Where does the phrase "In the midst of life we are in death" come from?
One of Didion's own novels

Episcopalians

One of John's essays

Something Quintana says
4 When does John die?
January 3, 2004

December 30, 2003

September 2, 2003

December 25, 2004
5 Didion writes that she has been a what her entire life?
A writer

A woman

A self-pitier

A dreamer
6 What is Didion's first response when John freezes at the dinner table?
She realizes he is having a brain hemorrhage.

She rushes to call to ambulance.

She thinks of Quintana.

She thinks it is a joke.
7 What does Didion think of the story of a mother who would not let an army official into her home to tell her of her son's death?
She thinks the woman is irrational.

She recognizes the thinking as her own.

She pities the woman.

She does not understand the story.
8 When does the phrase "a mote in the eye of God" come to Didion?
When thinking about how short their lives are

When thinking about Quintana

When thinking about the fragility of their lives

When thinking about the time passing as John is taken to the hospital
9 Who first calls Didion a "cool customer"?
The doctor

Didion herself

Her social worker

John
10 Why does Didion find it difficult to give away John's shoes?
She feels that he will need them to come back.

She feels they have sentimental value.

She is too unhappy to think about it.

She doesn't think anyone is worthy of having them.
11 What is the time of death on John's death certificate?
6:56pm

9:09pm

10:18pm

11:40pm
12 How would John take notes?
In a pocket notebook

By typing on his own phone

By telling Didion to record on her phone

On index cards
13 Where does the phenomenon of "waves" come up?
A meditation on time

Looking at Quintana

A trip to the beach

Discussion of grief
14 Why does Didion call the Los Angeles Times after John's death?
To talk to a friend there

To ask for files they have kept about John

To publish John's last story

To ensure John's obituary is not only in the New York Times
15 Didion writes, "I needed to be alone so that ___."
the grief could come to me

I would remain a cool customer

I could process my feelings

he could come back
16 What is the title of the Freud essay that Didion quotes?
The Vortex Effect

Mourning and Melancholia

The Problem of Grief

The Question of Self-Pity
17 Didion recognizes the kind of irrational thoughts she is having. What is the effect of this recognition?
She stops thinking them at all.

No effect at all.

She decides to give herself entirely to her grief.

Not much; she continues to think those things.
18 When does Didion think about John's eyes?
When she is called about organ donation

When she watches his autopsy

When she looks at his photograph

When she looks at Quintana
19 What was the importance of John's funeral to Didion?
She went through the motions of life.

She acknowledged his death in a public way.

She said her last goodbye to him.

She finally let him go.
20 In times of trouble, what does Didion go to?
Walking

Painting

Music

Literature
21 What does Didion refer to as "sideswiping"?
Sudden illnesses such as Quintana's

Sudden deaths such as John's

Worrying too much about death

Losing herself in memories
22 What does Didion find interesting about an entry on grieving in a book of etiquette?
It contradicts what medical manuals say to do.

It is way too simple.

It is very soulful.

It is completely practical.
23 When is Quintana first admitted to the hospital?
December 22, 2003

December 30, 2003

December 18, 2003

December 25, 2003
24 Why is Quintana admitted to the hospital?
Depression

Broken leg

Flu

Brain hemorrhage
25 During the night of John's death, what part of Didion's home makes her feel that things are normal?
The fire

The books John is reading

The food

The dinner table

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Root of the “Magical Thinking”

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