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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 5: Chapter 16, "Social (Media) Disease" through "Conclusion".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) Background sources tend to be highly-placed officials, while anonymous sources tend to be leakers.
(b) Reporters are not usually asked to verify information obtained in a quote, but they are supposed to double-check information given "on background."
(c) The only difference is actually whether the information is quoted or paraphrased.
(d) Quoted anonymous sources are more likely to be accurate than information obtained "on background."

2. 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 philosophical essay.
(b) The political essay.
(c) The essays of the Enlightenment.
(d) The five-paragraph academic essay.

3. How, in Chapter 16, "Social (Media) Disease," does Foster define "bot"?
(a) Software that performs a simple task.
(b) A troll or hacker working for a government or corporation.
(c) A small piece of data housed on a user's computer by a website.
(d) An automated follower on social media.

4. In Chapter 16, "Social (Media) Disease," what is the most likely purpose for Foster's claim that "viral" material on the web will "make you sick" (264)?
(a) He is just making a pun on the word "viral," but doesn't mean anything by it.
(b) He is comparing viral information to a computer virus.
(c) He is underscoring the danger that social media presents to mental health.
(d) He is trying to both make a joke and imply that social media can be unhealthy.

5. In Chapter 16, "Social (Media) Disease," why does Foster say it is not important to discuss problems that are specific to only one social media platform?
(a) Social media platforms mostly police their own problems.
(b) Social media platforms come and go fairly quickly.
(c) They are not as serious as the problems of social media as a whole.
(d) They do not affect that many people.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to "The Building Blocks of Arguments," what is the only form of nonfiction that is not argumentative?

2. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," Foster introduces the term "structural design," saying that it is similar to which term related to fiction?

3. In "Interrogating the Text," Foster says that readers should beware of ad hominem arguments. What he means is that readers should be suspicious when writers do what?

4. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what important characteristic of the essay does Foster point out?

5. In Chapter 12, "Life from the Inside," Foster discusses primary and secondary sources. Which of the following would be a secondary source about World War Two?

(see the answer key)

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