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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 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what is a piece of information that Foster says we can infer from the notes?
(a) The author's education.
(b) The author's purpose.
(c) The intended audience.
(d) Potential biases.

2. According to "The Building Blocks of Arguments," what is the implicit argument of most nonfiction writing?
(a) That the reader should change their beliefs or behavior.
(b) That the writer's angle on the subject is the correct one.
(c) That the writer has the authority to write about the subject.
(d) That the subject matter is important enough to read about.

3. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," why is "foreward" spelled with an "e" instead of as we usually see it, "forward"?
(a) This is a proofreading error in the text.
(b) Foster is using an unconventional spelling to draw attention to the idea "fore," which means "ahead."
(c) Without the "e," the word means a direction; with the "e," it means a piece of writing that comes ahead of another.
(d) The spelling "foreward" is a British spelling, like "flavour," and is therefore an accepted alternate spelling.

4. 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 a flexible and useful format for anything a student might need to write about.
(b) It teaches students to organize their thoughts.
(c) It is the most that students are capable of before college.
(d) It is the preferred format for professional writing.

5. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what consequence does Foster say the rise of the internet has had?
(a) A lack of respect for, and recognition of, expertise.
(b) A new respect for minority opinions.
(c) A decline in the average American's reading ability.
(d) A rise in people's awareness of current events.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," Foster maintains that types of newspaper writing like advice columns and human interest stories exist for what reason?

2. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," what does Foster give as the basic meaning of "preface," "prologue," and "foreward"?

3. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster notes that the expectation for a writer to be engaging does not apply to which types of writing?

4. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what does Foster say is the difference between "hard news" and "soft news"?

5. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what kind of person does Foster say is likely to be biased?

(see the answer key)

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