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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what document does Foster call the "ultimate political expression of [the] Enlightenment insistence on the individual" (146)?
(a) Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
(b) A Room of One's Own.
(c) The Declaration of Independence.
(d) Apologia Pro Vita Sua.

2. Using an argument like "Democrats just want to take your guns" in an address to a gun rights organization in a heavily Republican area would be an example of which flaw in argumentation?
(a) Cherry-picking.
(b) Glibness.
(c) False analogy.
(d) Preaching to the choir.

3. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster call inaccurate information?
(a) Hypertext.
(b) Dark energy.
(c) Cyber-lies.
(d) Dark information.

4. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster call the "fatal flaw" of the internet?
(a) A lack of quality control.
(b) The cost of connecting to it.
(c) The hierarchy of gatekeepers.
(d) Too many editors.

5. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," what does Foster tell us begins Ben Franklin's autobiography?
(a) The dramatic moment when the Declaration is signed.
(b) A description of Franklin's childhood.
(c) Excerpts from a speech Franklin gave while serving as Ambassador to France.
(d) A letter to his son.

6. "Flu cases are 100% higher this year" is an example of what problematic use of data discussed by Foster in "Interrogating the Text"?
(a) Appeal to extremes.
(b) Lack of context.
(c) Cherry-picking.
(d) False analogy.

7. Whose Apologia Pro Vita Sua is discussed in Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside"?
(a) Augustine of Hippo.
(b) The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(c) Charles Kingsley.
(d) John Henry, Cardinal Newman.

8. Based on Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what would Foster call a journalist writing about a biologist and her discoveries?
(a) Expert testimony.
(b) Interrogation of text.
(c) Amateur profiles.
(d) Journalistic compilation.

9. 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?
(a) A 1942 letter from an overseas American soldier to his parents.
(b) A historical account in a 2020 textbook about the attack on Pearl Harbor.
(c) A collection of English WWII military maps and charts discovered many years after the war.
(d) An editorial in the New York Times opposing American involvement in the war.

10. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," how does Foster apply the idea of "free indirect speech" to New Journalism?
(a) He uses it to contrast New Journalism with fiction.
(b) He uses it to label Wolfe's attempt to recreate the inner lives of his subjects.
(c) He uses it to explain how Thompson narrates his own thoughts.
(d) He uses it to compare New Journalism with immersive journalism.

11. Based on Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what would Foster call a journalist writing a general survey of the field of string theory?
(a) Interrogation of text.
(b) Expert testimony.
(c) Journalistic compilation.
(d) Amateur profiles.

12. In "Interrogating the Text," Foster says that he himself tends to "eschew" notes. He is saying what about his use of notes?
(a) He tends to provide too many.
(b) He does not use them.
(c) He backs up his notes with a Works Cited section.
(d) His notes are sometimes disorganized.

13. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," Foster discusses the use of parallelism. He is discussing what technique?
(a) The use of tone that mimics the subject under discussion.
(b) The exact repetition of words and phrases.
(c) The use of multiple, similar examples.
(d) The repetition of grammatical structures.

14. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," Foster says that a look at social media reveals what about Americans of all political persuasions?
(a) Many on both sides are strong critical thinkers.
(b) They are eager for a leader who will heal political divisions.
(c) Many on both sides are blind to what makes America great.
(d) They have lost touch with reality.

15. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," what criticism does Foster level at Comey's book A Higher Loyalty?
(a) The attribution of sources.
(b) The omniscient narrative style.
(c) The use of hearsay.
(d) The logic of two key passages is suspect.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Foster in Chapter 9, Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is an example of what type of nonfiction?

2. Whom does Foster name, in Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," as the "inheritors" (164) of the legacy of Apologia Pro Vita Sua?

3. In "Interrogating the Text," where does Foster say the "three questions" originate?

4. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," why does Foster introduce the example of Malcolm Gladwell?

5. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster say the contemporary world lacks?

(see the answer keys)

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