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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster call the "gold standard" of sources (63)?
(a) Professional expertise.
(b) Eyewitness testimony.
(c) Statistics.
(d) Expert sources.

2. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what are the "four Ps" that Foster discusses?
(a) Purpose, proposal, program, and plan.
(b) Purpose, paraphrase, platform, and paragraph.
(c) Problem, promise, program, and platform.
(d) Problem, proposal, program, and plan.

3. 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?
(a) Unique.
(b) Challenging.
(c) Uplifting.
(d) Revealing.

4. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," Foster uses the word "etymologically" to describe what?
(a) The origins of words.
(b) The definitions of words.
(c) Similar sounding words.
(d) The opposites of words.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. In Chapter 6, "Source Code,"what does Foster say about researching primary sources on microfiche?

3. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what reason does Foster give for journalists generally being proved correct despite public mistrust?

4. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," Foster talks about the change in value over time of a reporter's eyewitness testimony. What does Foster call this change in value?

5. According to Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," at what level are most news stories written?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster say that focus and telos can change if the structure of a work is changed?

2. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what does Foster say is the purpose of his reader being asked to think like a writer, and what is one example of how this works?

3. 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"?

4. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say is the consequence of a "land without gatekeepers" (68)?

5. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what problem does Foster identify with creating a point of view for All the President's Men, and how do Woodward and Bernstein solve it?

6. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what does Foster seem to admire about the Lansing State Journal's coverage of the Nassar scandal?

7. 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?

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

9. 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.

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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