Annie Dillard, “Heaven and Earth in Jest” from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974)

Quiz:

1. How is the old fighting tam which visited Dillard in her bed at night emblematic of the way we experience life’s mysteries as children?

2. Describe the spot to which Dillard is drawn whenever she goes walking.

3. What nightmarish scene did she witness one day while hunting a frog?

4. What intrigued Dillard about the sharks she saw off the Florida beach?

5. What does she find most beautiful about the sunset of a windy day?

Paragraph: What does she see on Tinker Creek? For her, what is at stake?