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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How are "showing" and "telling" defined?

2. What does the term, "downplaying", refer to in comedy?

3. How does the author describe the world created in a first person narrative in Chapter 16?

4. What are the most popular forms of narration?

5. What is the amount of justification proportionate to?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the consequences that are beyond a character's control and provoke a transformation?

2. What creates believable characters, according to the author in, "The Serious Character: Make Us Believe"?

3. How can a writer explore a character's past?

4. What are the advantages to using an omniscient or limited narration?

5. What are the three levels in which a writer can penetrate the mind or experience of a viewpoint character?

6. What choice must a writer make when using a first person narrative, and what should influence the decision?

7. What are some of the different voices a person uses based on the situation?

8. What happens when a reader interprets a change in a character that was not intended?

9. How do "showing" and "telling" affect the story?

10. How is the illusion of truth created?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the reasons why a character must be believable and how a writer can create them in a way that makes them more believable. Use the book as a reference to provide examples of how major characters and minor characters are developed in fiction.

Essay Topic 2

According to the author, writers have a responsibility to the reader and the world around them.

1) Describe the contract that a writer has with a reader and how it affects the way a story is presented and delivered.

2) Explain writers' responsibility in observing the events that take place in their life, how receptive they should be to them, and the way the events are analyzed when writing fiction.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the main purpose of writing by answering the following:

1) What is the purpose of fiction and characters that are written effectively?

2) What is the expectations that a reader has of a fictional story and why?

(see the answer keys)

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