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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Anne tell her students to train the unconscious to kick in?
(a) Phone an off-putting friend, that will get your creative juices going.
(b) Sit down to write at approximately the same time every day.
(c) Drink wine and eat chocolate, then write.
(d) Listen to classical music.

2. What movie line does Anne suggest as a good one to tape to the wall of your office?
(a) "Hey - lighten up, Francis."
(b) "From sun up to sun down I am the best writer in town."
(c) "Jeremiah was a bullfrog."
(d) "Climb every mountain."

3. Instead of writing towards a plot, what does Anne suggest?
(a) Writing about set design.
(b) Taking a break.
(c) Writing about birds.
(d) Writing towards a scene.

4. Anne's editor loved the characters in her book, but what was the problem with the book?
(a) She had false starts all over the place.
(b) The dialect was all wrong.
(c) She had not brought them all together.
(d) The garden was not believable.

5. When talking with a subject expert about kitchens, what are good questions to ask about the kitchen?
(a) What were the sights and sounds like?
(b) What were the smells and stains like?
(c) How best to keep stainless steel appliances clean.
(d) What were the sights, sounds, and smells like?

Short Answer Questions

1. In Part 1, Section 6, Polaroids, what was Anne's finished article about?

2. What do most of Anne's students assume about why well-respected writers's books turn out beautifully?

3. How did Anne feel after the basketball game?

4. What does Anne say good writing is about?

5. What advice does Anne's hypnotist give her about the negative voices?

Short Essay Questions

1. Readers need a sense that an important character, such as a narrator, is reliable. How does Anne suggest that writers accomplish this?

2. Alice Adams suggests the ABDCE formula for writing a short story. How can formulas be a great way to get us started?

3. How did having a mother and father who read, and a father who was a writer, affect Anne's life?

4. Where does Anne find out something about false starts?

5. How does the one-inch picture frame on Anne's desk put her in the mind to write a short assignment?

6. How do you know when you are done, according to Anne?

7. How did Anne's article on the Special Olympics start off? How did it turn out?

8. How does Anne suggest writing about school lunches be beneficial for a writer?

9. How does Anne warn against writing towards a climax or destination?

10. What was Natalie Goldberg's response when asked for the best possible writing advice she had to offer? How true is this advice?

(see the answer keys)

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