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?
December 2004

June 2004

May 2004

January 2004
2 What are the first words of the book?
Life changes fast.

The question of self-pity.

Life changes in an instant.

Life sudden changes.
3 Where does the phrase "In the midst of life we are in death" come from?
Episcopalians

One of John's essays

Something Quintana says

One of Didion's own novels
4 When does John die?
January 3, 2004

September 2, 2003

December 25, 2004

December 30, 2003
5 Didion writes that she has been a what her entire life?
A self-pitier

A writer

A woman

A dreamer
6 What is Didion's first response when John freezes at the dinner table?
She thinks it is a joke.

She rushes to call to ambulance.

She thinks of Quintana.

She realizes he is having a brain hemorrhage.
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 does not understand the story.

She pities the woman.
8 When does the phrase "a mote in the eye of God" come to Didion?
When thinking about the time passing as John is taken to the hospital

When thinking about how short their lives are

When thinking about Quintana

When thinking about the fragility of their lives
9 Who first calls Didion a "cool customer"?
Didion herself

Her social worker

John

The doctor
10 Why does Didion find it difficult to give away John's shoes?
She is too unhappy to think about it.

She feels they have sentimental value.

She doesn't think anyone is worthy of having them.

She feels that he will need them to come back.
11 What is the time of death on John's death certificate?
11:40pm

6:56pm

9:09pm

10:18pm
12 How would John take notes?
In a pocket notebook

On index cards

By typing on his own phone

By telling Didion to record on her phone
13 Where does the phenomenon of "waves" come up?
A meditation on time

A trip to the beach

Discussion of grief

Looking at Quintana
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 ___."
I could process my feelings

I would remain a cool customer

the grief could come to me

he could come back
16 What is the title of the Freud essay that Didion quotes?
Mourning and Melancholia

The Problem of Grief

The Question of Self-Pity

The Vortex Effect
17 Didion recognizes the kind of irrational thoughts she is having. What is the effect of this recognition?
She decides to give herself entirely to her grief.

She stops thinking them at all.

Not much; she continues to think those things.

No effect at all.
18 When does Didion think about John's eyes?
When she watches his autopsy

When she is called about organ donation

When she looks at his photograph

When she looks at Quintana
19 What was the importance of John's funeral to Didion?
She acknowledged his death in a public way.

She said her last goodbye to him.

She finally let him go.

She went through the motions of life.
20 In times of trouble, what does Didion go to?
Music

Walking

Literature

Painting
21 What does Didion refer to as "sideswiping"?
Worrying too much about death

Losing herself in memories

Sudden illnesses such as Quintana's

Sudden deaths such as John's
22 What does Didion find interesting about an entry on grieving in a book of etiquette?
It is way too simple.

It is very soulful.

It contradicts what medical manuals say to do.

It is completely practical.
23 When is Quintana first admitted to the hospital?
December 18, 2003

December 30, 2003

December 22, 2003

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

Depression

Broken leg

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

The fire

The dinner table

The books John is reading

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