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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 3: Chapter 9, "Living the News" through Chapter 12, "That Is So Last Year".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," what does Foster call works that people write about their own experiences with illness and dying?
(a) Death memoir.
(b) Misadventure memoir.
(c) Survival autobiography.
(d) Funeral autobiography.

2. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster says that rules are determined by content, not codex. What does this mean?
(a) The rules for each form are determined by the type of writing, not the physical format that is used to convey the writing.
(b) The rules for each form are determined by historical precedent, not by the topic under discussion.
(c) The rules for each form are determined by subject matter, not by the medium of transmission.
(d) The rules for each form are determined by the purpose of the writing, not by traditions.

3. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what implicit assertion about online writing does Foster make?
(a) It is often more accurate and more engaging than print media.
(b) It is nearly always lower quality than the writing in print sources.
(c) It is capable of presenting hard news in a more timely fashion than print media can.
(d) It is susceptible to fewer hidden biases and is therefore more objective.

4. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," says that political cartoons and punditry are examples of what type of nonfiction?
(a) News features.
(b) Op-ed.
(c) Opinion.
(d) Immersive journalism.

5. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what type of nonfiction writing does Foster refer to as "soggy" (141), and "soul-deadening" (142)?
(a) The political essay.
(b) The philosophical essay.
(c) The essays of the Enlightenment.
(d) The five-paragraph academic essay.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose Apologia Pro Vita Sua is discussed in Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside"?

2. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," how does Foster define "specialty journalism"?

3. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster makes what point about newspaper articles?

4. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what part of a text does Foster say is "under-read"? (39).

5. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," Foster talks about the change in value over time of a reporter's eyewitness testimony. What does Foster call this change in value?

(see the answer key)

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