View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the unusual item attached to the animal?
(a) A number.
(b) An eye.
(c) A letter.
(d) A Chinese symbol.

2. What does one of King's babysitters do to him?
(a) Mistreats him and complains to his mother about his behavior.
(b) Tortures King with a belt.
(c) Forces him to stay in his room all day.
(d) Feeds him too many eggs and then locks him in a closet.

3. According to King, what are two reasons to write?
(a) Writing as a passion; writing as a career.
(b) Writing for fame and glory; writing for a livelihood.
(c) Writing as a passion; writing as a way to gain fame.
(d) Writing as a serious career; writing as a hobby.

4. What does King suggest that readers who do not take writing seriously do?
(a) Ignore his advice completely.
(b) Study the book more carefully.
(c) Stop reading the book.
(d) Read the book, but ignore the advice that conflicts with the reader's beliefs.

5. What does the second chapter open with King presenting to the reader?
(a) An injunction.
(b) A piece of advice.
(c) An image.
(d) A monologue.

6. The change that King made in his writing life after his wife's intervention is seen by King as a symbol. What does this symbol represent?
(a) A change in the meaning of his writing.
(b) A change in his writing style.
(c) A change to a deeper kind of symbolism in his writing.
(d) A change in the priorities of his life.

7. How can the book, On Writing, be described?
(a) A poorly conceived hack job.
(b) Poignant, educated and inspiring.
(c) A masterpiece.
(d) Clever, formulistic, but inspiring.

8. According to King, who determines what the image in the second chapter looks like?
(a) The writer.
(b) No one.
(c) The reader.
(d) The translator.

9. What is one of King's last jobs before becoming a full-time writer?
(a) A night janitor for his wife's office.
(b) A newspaper reporter.
(c) A high school English teacher.
(d) A worker in a laundry.

10. Why does King miss his first year of school?
(a) Because of his father.
(b) Because he moves too many times.
(c) Because of chronic ear and throat infections.
(d) Because his mother homeschools him.

11. How does King state he feels about writing for money?
(a) Writing is art, and as such, it may not pay.
(b) Everyone writes for money.
(c) Writing for money is unnecessary; it will come.
(d) One cannot write in anticipation of making money.

12. When does King get the idea for Carrie?
(a) After reading about another girl.
(b) After taking a job at a high school.
(c) When his wife tells him a story she overheard.
(d) After watching a similar TV show.

13. Why does King describe the image in the second chapter the way he does?
(a) So that the reader creates an image different from the one King describes.
(b) King believes the reader will see the image as he does anyway.
(c) To allow the reader to see the image in their own way.
(d) King wants to trick the reader into seeing a different image.

14. Where on the animal is something unusual attached?
(a) On a collar around its neck.
(b) On its foot.
(c) On its back.
(d) On its side.

15. How does King's mother die?
(a) She dies of injuries received in a traffic accident.
(b) She dies from an overdose.
(c) She dies of cirrhosis.
(d) She dies of uterine cancer.

Short Answer Questions

1. When a writer sees an image in his/her head and writes it down, what is he accomplishing in regards to the reader?

2. What is the second specific item King states his book on writing will NOT be about?

3. What is the first thing King requests in the second chapter that his readers accept about writing?

4. .What is the first specific item King states his book on writing will NOT be about?

5. What animal appears in the image King describes in the second chapter?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 677 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample