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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 2: Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." through Chapter 8, "Bringing the News".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what does Foster say is the difference between "hard news" and "soft news"?
(a) Hard news is focused on difficult truths; soft news is about making the reader feel good.
(b) Hard news is focused on statistics and data; soft news is focused on investigations and exposés.
(c) Hard news is truth-focused; soft news permits some inaccuracy.
(d) Hard news is fact-focused, basic news gathering; soft news is generally lengthier and less objective.

2. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what does Foster say is the purpose of the academic five-paragraph essay?
(a) It is the most that students are capable of before college.
(b) It is the preferred format for professional writing.
(c) It is a flexible and useful format for anything a student might need to write about.
(d) It teaches students to organize their thoughts.

3. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster discusses Pollan's How to Change Your Mind as an example of what?
(a) Why self-help books can use many non-chronological structures.
(b) Why self-help books are better off using a chronological structure.
(c) Science writing that begins in media res.
(d) Science writing that does not use chronological order.

4. In Chapter 6, "Source Code,"what does Foster say about researching primary sources on microfiche?
(a) Microfiche is obsolete and has already been supplanted by digital sources.
(b) It's too much work.
(c) It may be tedious, but it's worth the effort.
(d) Microfiche is an unreliable medium.

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?
(a) The decline of presence.
(b) The transfer of source validity.
(c) The economy of information.
(d) The price of detail.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster call the "gold standard" of sources (63)?

2. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what reason does Foster give for journalists generally being proved correct despite public mistrust?

3. According to Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," at what level are most news stories written?

4. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," Foster says that All the President's Men is sui generis. He is saying that this book is what?

5. Which form discussed in Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," is generally not written by the author of the main piece of writing?

(see the answer key)

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