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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 an example of a story where milieu is the prime narrative?
(a) Western.
(b) Fantasy.
(c) Mystery.
(d) Science-fiction.

2. What type of physical appearance can make a character more engaging?
(a) Appealing and subtle.
(b) Appealing and specific.
(c) Appealing, but vague.
(d) Appealing and blatant.

3. What kind of story does the author use as an example of how a story can suggest characters?
(a) Natural disaster.
(b) Murder.
(c) Unwilling confinement.
(d) Space adventure.

4. What will a writer discover when they take their eyes off of the main character?
(a) What is far away.
(b) What is nearby.
(c) Who is far away.
(d) Who is nearby.

5. What can cause a reader to become more engaged with a character?
(a) Making what is happening to a character more important to all other characters.
(b) Making what is happening to a character more important to another character.
(c) Making what is happening to a character more important to that character.
(d) Making what is happening to a character more important to only the minor characters.

6. What part of a character's name provides a clear starting point for defining that character's context?
(a) The first name.
(b) The reason they were given the name.
(c) The middle name.
(d) The last name.

7. What word is used to describe the life ideally given to fictional characters?
(a) Colorful.
(b) Eventful.
(c) Interesting.
(d) Vivid.

8. Why should sources of inspiration be altered?
(a) To make them more familiar.
(b) To make them more unrealistic
(c) To make them more effective.
(d) To make them more mysterious.

9. How many basic types of characters are there?
(a) Three.
(b) Two.
(c) One.
(d) Four.

10. In a story where character is the primary focus, how many characters need to be fully developed?
(a) Very few of them.
(b) At least half of them.
(c) None of them.
(d) Not all of them.

11. What is the author's theory about fiction in Chapter 5?
(a) Fiction and reality cannot coexist without order.
(b) Fiction and reality can only coexist without order.
(c) Order in reality helps us create order in fiction.
(d) Order in fiction helps us create order in reality.

12. What will many experienced authors claim about their characters?
(a) They were taken from other literary works.
(b) They were taken from life.
(c) They were inspired by history.
(d) They were completely invented for the story.

13. What technique can help avoid cliché?
(a) Exaggeration.
(b) Brief descriptions.
(c) Realism.
(d) Extensive descriptions.

14. What can other characters provide for the main character?
(a) Conflict, but never assistance.
(b) Neither conflict nor assistance.
(c) Conflict or assistance.
(d) Assistance, but never conflict.

15. What balance must be met when creating an endearing character?
(a) The balance between victimization and courage.
(b) The balance between right and wrong.
(c) The balance between loss and hope.
(d) The balance between a leader and a follower.

Short Answer Questions

1. What should the writer's own experiences have in order to be used as fictional inspiration?

2. On a basic level, which one of the following defines character in a narrative?

3. When an idea is the primary focus, what is the role of the characters?

4. In Chapter 8, how does the author want the reader to be engaged with a character?

5. How many basic factors are there common to all forms of narrative writing?

(see the answer keys)

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