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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. The section of this book called "What's Going on Around Here?" is what part of the book?
(a) A foreward.
(b) A preface.
(c) The introduction.
(d) An appendix.

3. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what does Foster say about disclaimers like "I don't dislike soccer" (52)?
(a) That this kind of phrasing often introduces counterclaims.
(b) That it probably means the speaker actually does dislike soccer.
(c) That it is good when authors clarify what ground is "neutral" to them.
(d) That double negatives are generally used to disguise a lie.

4. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what kind of person does Foster say is likely to be biased?
(a) Older people.
(b) Republicans.
(c) Everyone.
(d) Uneducated people.

5. The section of this book called "The Books in the Book" is what part of the book?
(a) A foreward.
(b) The introduction.
(c) An appendix.
(d) A preface.

6. 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?
(a) Young readers.
(b) Skeptical readers.
(c) Well-informed readers.
(d) Snobbish readers.

7. 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) Science writing that does not use chronological order.
(c) Science writing that begins in media res.
(d) Why self-help books are better off using a chronological structure.

8. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what implicit assertion about online writing does Foster make?
(a) It is susceptible to fewer hidden biases and is therefore more objective.
(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 often more accurate and more engaging than print media.

9. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what does Foster say the term "Fake News" originally referred to?
(a) News that powerful politicians dislike.
(b) News the reader dislikes.
(c) Tabloid content.
(d) Online sources of maliciously false news.

10. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what is the purpose of Foster's discussion of structure in Coming into the Country?
(a) To show that cause and effect structure can be used for narrative.
(b) To show how chronological structure can be adapted to a particular message.
(c) To demonstrate that theme is dependent on detail.
(d) To demonstrate the limits of chronological structure.

11. According to "The Building Blocks of Arguments," what is the only form of nonfiction that is not argumentative?
(a) History.
(b) User manuals.
(c) Reportage.
(d) Technical reports.

12. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," what does Foster say distinguishes the prologue from a preface?
(a) The word preface is generally only used for fiction.
(b) The word preface is generally only used with narratives.
(c) The word prologue is generally only used for fiction.
(d) The word prologue is generally only used with narratives.

13. 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 index.
(c) Content notes.
(d) The appendix.

14. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what does Foster call the rules governing different forms of nonfiction?
(a) Grammar.
(b) Syntax.
(c) Precepts.
(d) Laws.

15. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what part of a text does Foster say is "under-read"? (39).
(a) Introductions.
(b) Titles.
(c) The table of contents.
(d) The index.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster tells us that changing the structure of a story changes its what?

2. 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?

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

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

5. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Whome does Foster say is "our greatest living thinker about writing nonfiction" (81)?

(see the answer keys)

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