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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 2, The Writer's Training and Education.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Gardner's first wife's name?
(a) Nora.
(b) Sarah.
(c) Joan.
(d) Emily.

2. What does Gardner state in Chapter 1 that we call a writer who cares more for language than the other elements of fiction?
(a) Stylized.
(b) Mannered.
(c) Tedious.
(d) Bad.

3. What is the name of the writer's conference where Gardner has frequently worked with writing assistants?
(a) Last Dinner.
(b) Silver Mountain.
(c) Bread Loaf.
(d) Peabody.

4. What masterpiece of James Joyce does Gardner suggest typing out for language growth in Chapter 1?
(a) "Finnegan's Wake."
(b) "Ulysses."
(c) "The Wall."
(d) "The Dead."

5. In Chapter 2, what does Gardner say the world has far more than it needs?
(a) Publishers.
(b) Authors.
(c) Writing teachers.
(d) Editors.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 1, Gardner writes, "Though there are exceptions, as a rule the good novelist does not worry primarily about ____ brilliance."

2. Which philosopher maintained that nothing a writer writes means anything, "all the words are a lunatic blithering," since all language is by nature false and misleading?

3. What does Gardner claim is helpful, if it can be kept in partial control, to keep the novelist driven?

4. What is the name of the man who moves next door to his teenage daughter in Gardner's hypothetical story in Chapter 1?

5. What year did Raymond Carver move to Chico, California?

(see the answer key)

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