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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. What is milieu?
(a) The physical, historical, or social context.
(b) The mental, historical, or social context.
(c) The physical, cultural, or social context.
(d) The mental, cultural, or social context.

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

3. What happens to sources of inspiration once they are incorporated into characters?
(a) They are added to or exaggerated.
(b) They are added to or completely changed.
(c) They are added to, exaggerated, or completely changed.
(d) They are exaggerated or completely changed.

4. What should the writer's own experiences have in order to be used as fictional inspiration?
(a) Emotional, spiritual, or experiential connection with a character.
(b) Emotional, theoretical, or experiential connection with a character.
(c) Emotional, theoretical, or spiritual connection with a character.
(d) Theoretical, spiritual, or experiential connection with a character.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What must a storyteller do when creating characters or events?

2. Which one of the following is not a powerful resource for finding characters listed by the author?

3. What do walk-ons lend to a narrative?

4. What is a writer's fundamental responsibility?

5. Which one of the following is not an example of a story where milieu is the prime narrative?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of a character's last name and why is that an important decision for a writer to make?

2. What does the author mean when he writes about "raising the emotional stakes"?

3. In what way can the story itself provide a writer with additional characters?

4. What kind of act is writing and how does it compare to other mediums?

5. What is the intent of the author in "Characters and Viewpoint"?

6. How does character factor into a narrative and why is it often a complex process?

7. What are the main functions of major and minor characters, and how can a writer achieve them?

8. What is the idea of a story, and how is it used?

9. What techniques can a writer use to raise the emotional stakes?

10. What is milieu and which types of stories feature it as the main narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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