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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. 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 subject matter is important enough to read about.
(c) That the writer has the authority to write about the subject.
(d) That the writer's angle on the subject is the correct one.

2. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say about the proliferation of online sources?
(a) They make everything seem like nonsense.
(b) They democratize media.
(c) They are often carefully sourced.
(d) They offer marginalized voices a chance to be heard.

3. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what does Foster say is usually the difference between quoted anonymous sources and sources speaking "on background"?
(a) Quoted anonymous sources are more likely to be accurate than information obtained "on background."
(b) Background sources tend to be highly-placed officials, while anonymous sources tend to be leakers.
(c) The only difference is actually whether the information is quoted or paraphrased.
(d) Reporters are not usually asked to verify information obtained in a quote, but they are supposed to double-check information given "on background."

4. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster says that which type of nonfiction is usually better off starting at the beginning chronologically?
(a) Biography.
(b) Philosophy.
(c) History.
(d) Reportage.

5. According to Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what are the sidebar discussions found in the book's back matter called?
(a) Callouts.
(b) The appendix.
(c) The index.
(d) Content notes.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what does Foster mean when he uses the word "dichotomy"?

2. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," Foster discusses the use of parallelism. He is discussing what technique?

3. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what does Foster say about offering equal space and analysis to opposing arguments?

4. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," which authors does Foster point out as not engaged in New Journalism?

5. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster calls a certain kind of reader the "cognoscenti." What kind of a reader is her referring to?

(see the answer key)

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