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

2. According to Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what are the sidebar discussions found in the book's back matter called?
(a) The index.
(b) Callouts.
(c) Content notes.
(d) The appendix.

3. 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?
(a) The price of detail.
(b) The transfer of source validity.
(c) The economy of information.
(d) The decline of presence.

4. 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 demonstrate that theme is dependent on detail.
(b) To demonstrate the limits of chronological structure.
(c) To show how chronological structure can be adapted to a particular message.
(d) To show that cause and effect structure can be used for narrative.

5. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster calls an expression a "bromide." What is he saying about this expression?
(a) It is insightful but wordy.
(b) It is clever and concise.
(c) It is unoriginal and unimportant.
(d) It is boring and mean-spirited.

Short Answer Questions

1. 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?

2. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," Foster makes the point that during the Nassar scandal, the Lansing State Journal did what?

3. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what type of writing does Foster say relies heavily on eyewitness testimony?

4. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what consequence does Foster say the rise of the internet has had?

5. Which form discussed in Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," is generally not written by the author of the main piece of writing?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," why does Foster say that All the President's Men is "meta-journalism"?

5. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what does Foster say is similar about the terms "narrative strategy" and "structural design," and what does he say is the difference?

6. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what relationship does Foster point out between reportorial presence and time?

7. 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?

8. 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?

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

10. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what are the ways that Foster suggests chronological order can be modified, and why would a writer choose to do this?

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