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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which one of the following is not given in Chapter 12 as a reason for characters to change themselves?
(a) External circumstances.
(b) Will.
(c) Greed.
(d) Action.

2. What is the main advantage of a first person narrative?
(a) To let the reader see the world as someone else sees it.
(b) To let the reader understand the world differently than the narrator sees it.
(c) To cause the reader to accept their own world.
(d) To encourage the reader to accept the world as someone else sees it.

3. Which series of novels by Robert Parker are listed as an example of characters that are influenced to change?
(a) Philip Marlowe.
(b) Sunny Randall.
(c) Spenser.
(d) Jesse Stone.

4. What is an omniscient narrator?
(a) One that observes and comments on the narrative, but does not have to understand it.
(b) One that observes, understands, and comments on the narrative.
(c) One that comments on the narrative without observing or understanding it.
(d) One that observes and understands the narrative, but does not have to comment on it.

5. What must happen when a narrator does not describe an event in a first person narration?
(a) There should be a similar event before the one not described.
(b) There should be more than one event taking place at the same time.
(c) There should be a similar event after the one not described.
(d) There should be a clear and valid justification.

6. According to the author in Chapter 10, what is comedy almost always about?
(a) Accidents.
(b) Betrayal.
(c) Vengeance.
(d) Pain.

7. What happens if a disproportionate amount of justification is presented in a story?
(a) The reader will not expect the things that the author will deliver.
(b) The reader will not understand why the author has not delivered anything.
(c) The reader will expect things that the author will not deliver.
(d) The reader will not understand the things that the author will deliver.

8. What is it that changes the control a writer has when they write words down?
(a) The fact that a writer writes without thinking.
(b) The fact that a writer speaks without thinking.
(c) The fact that a writer cannot hear the words.
(d) The fact that a writer can see the words.

9. What type of attitude should a character have with reference to events?
(a) Clearly defined.
(b) Vaguely defined.
(c) Consistent and unchanging.
(d) Inconsistent and changing.

10. What Ayn Rand book, mentioned in Chapter 12, features sympathetic characters that are not transformed, but unmasked?
(a) Anthem.
(b) The Fountainhead.
(c) The Voice of Reason.
(d) We the Living.

11. How should exaggeration be used when writing a comedy?
(a) With extreme caution.
(b) Within certain boundaries.
(c) Exaggeration should not be used in a comedy.
(d) With no boundaries.

12. What are the most popular forms of narration?
(a) First person or third person.
(b) Second person or third person.
(c) First person, second person, or third person.
(d) First person or second person.

13. What does "controlled disbelief" refer to?
(a) When a character makes another character go along with something neither one of them believe.
(b) When a character makes another character go along with something they cannot believe.
(c) When a character refuses to go along with something they cannot believe.
(d) When a character goes along with something they cannot believe.

14. What exists to provide justification for unexplained changes?
(a) History.
(b) Flashbacks.
(c) Omens.
(d) Fiction.

15. In the author's opinion, what must a transformation be?
(a) Justified.
(b) Justified and logical.
(c) Complete.
(d) Logical.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which incidents in the story must the narrator be present for in order to make a first person narrative effective?

2. How do the motives of a believable character affect the direction of the story?

3. In general, how do people write in comparison to the way they speak?

4. How much freedom do characters have to change in comedy?

5. What does the term, "take", describe in a comedy?

(see the answer keys)

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