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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 12, "Life from the Inside," what does Foster suggest that Ambrose loses by choosing to focus on Lewis?
(a) The reader's trust.
(b) The chance to engage a wider audience of readers.
(c) A variety of perspectives.
(d) Information about what happened after Lewis's death.

2. According to Foster in Chapter 9, "Living the News," what is McPhee's purpose in comparing geological change over time to a road trip?
(a) He is constructing a warrant to link claim to grounds.
(b) He is trying to make something unfamiliar easier to understand.
(c) He is using humor to engage his audience.
(d) He is demonstrating how creative a nonfiction writer can be.

3. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," which work does Foster say that Comey's book A Higher Loyalty is similar to?
(a) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
(b) Apologia Pro Vita Sua.
(c) The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
(d) All the President's Men.

4. In Chapter 12, "Life from the Inside," what advantage does Foster say elapsed time gives to historical accounts?
(a) Immediacy.
(b) Objectivity.
(c) Perspective.
(d) Accuracy.

5. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," Foster says that the outsider exposé has what advantage over the insider exposé?
(a) Objectivity.
(b) Perspective.
(c) Accuracy.
(d) Immediacy.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what does Foster say is true about contemporary America?

2. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," Foster refers to ARPANET. What is ARPANET?

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

4. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," Foster says that the chief aim of Fire and Fury is to demonstrate what?

5. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what document does Foster call the "ultimate political expression of [the] Enlightenment insistence on the individual" (146)?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster propose as a solution to inaccuracies on the web?

2. In "Interrogating the Text," where does Foster suggest that readers focus their interrogative effort, and why?

3. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," why does Foster say that the process newspapers follow to assure balanced treatment in opinion pieces creates a false dichotomy?

4. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what characteristics does Foster say the thesis of a strong essay will have?

5. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," what does Foster admire about the writing of John McPhee?

6. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," why does Foster spend time describing the contents of Cardinal Newman's autobiography?

7. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster say is problematic about the internet and web?

8. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what does Foster say motivates antiscientific beliefs?

9. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," what concern does Foster say that other journalists have about Wolff's work?

10. Which of the three writers that Foster discusses in Chapter 13, "On the Stump," does Foster find to be least reliable, and which does he find to be most reliable? Why is this?

(see the answer keys)

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