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

2. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what are two reasons Foster points to for disbelief in science?
(a) Social media and poor science writing.
(b) Religion and economic interests.
(c) Ignorance and stubbornness.
(d) Skepticism and cynicism.

3. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," Foster says that Omarosa "uses her first name mononymously" (188). What does this mean about her use of her first name?
(a) She uses her last (family) name as her first (personal) name.
(b) She uses a nickname as her first name, but it is not her legal first name.
(c) She uses it for professional work, but it is not her real first name.
(d) She uses it alone, as a one-word name, without her last name.

4. According to Foster in Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what two errors in thinking prevent people from embracing gatekeeping?
(a) They believe that all barriers are bad and that all people are good.
(b) They believe that all writers are honest and that all editors are dishonest.
(c) They believe that all nonfiction is accurate and that all critics are misguided cynics.
(d) They believe that all gatekeepers are elitist and that all voices should be represented.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Interrogating the Text," what does Foster say most authors will do?

2. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what type of nonfiction writing does Foster refer to as "soggy" (141), and "soul-deadening" (142)?

3. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what does Foster call critical reading?

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

5. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what aspect of Renaissance scholarship does Foster say the essay rebels against?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," what are the three categories that Foster says outsider exposés fall into, and why does he say that they are more reliable than insider's writings?

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

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

5. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," why does Foster say that Hunter S. Thomson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is really a roman à clef?

6. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," what does Foster say is the difference between autobiography and memoir?

7. Explain why, in Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," Foster says that the narrators of nonfiction can be just as unreliable as the narrators of fiction.

8. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what qualities does Foster say a genuine expert will have?

9. In Chapter 12, "That Is So Last Year," what change in "fashion" does Foster say that the publishing of history has followed in the past decades?

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

(see the answer keys)

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