View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what advice does Foster give about the copyright page?
(a) This information is just a legal notice and most readers should just ignore it.
(b) This page is optional and readers should not expect to find it in every book.
(c) This page contains important information about where the author got pieces of information used in the text.
(d) When reading as a part of research, never leave this page without recording the information it contains.

2. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what does Foster say is the purpose of the "four Ps?"
(a) To explain the structural design of the work.
(b) To establish the writer's credibility.
(c) To lay out the essentials of the work to follow.
(d) To fill the reader in on important context.

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

4. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," where does Foster say editorial content can usually be found in the newspaper?
(a) The last page or pages of the front section.
(b) Throughout most sections.
(c) In its own section.
(d) At the very end of the last section.

5. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," how does Foster define "specialty journalism"?
(a) Feature writing.
(b) Forms of journalism devoted to a single subject area.
(c) Editorial writing.
(d) The newspaper sports section.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," what does Foster say distinguishes the prologue from a preface?

3. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," one of the main points that Foster wants to make about All the President's Men is that it is a kind of writing he calls what?

4. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." Foster says that a source's quote can be "emended" (55). What happens to an emended quote?

5. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what part of a text does Foster say is "under-read"? (39).

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," Foster explains the origin of the prologue. What is its origin and how is that origin reflected in today's prologues?

2. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say about biographies and the length of time that has passed since the lives of their subjects?

3. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." how does Foster suggest that a reader can examine the author's use of quotes to determine bias?

4. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what does Foster compare to "wrestl[ing] an octopus," (81), and why does he make this comparison?

5. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say that "expertise" is and is not?

6. Why, in Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," does Foster say that it is both good and bad news that all communication has a "grammar"?

7. Explain why, in Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster says that, even in narrative nonfiction, there is a difference between chronological order and structure.

8. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster call the organization of The Boys in the Boat "kaleidoscopic" (14)?

9. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," Foster discusses tables of contents and indexes. What is similar about these two things and what is different?

10. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," what are the two main functions of the prologue that Foster discusses?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,120 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample