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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what advice does Foster give about the copyright page?
2. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster calls an expression a "bromide." What is he saying about this expression?
3. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what is a piece of information that Foster says we can infer from the notes?
4. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," what does Foster say distinguishes the prologue from a preface?
5. 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?
Short Essay Questions
1. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what two problems does Foster identify with the use of data as support?
2. 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?
3. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what does Foster seem to admire about the Lansing State Journal's coverage of the Nassar scandal?
4. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what two kinds of notes does Foster discuss and what are their functions?
5. On page 21 of Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster says, of Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, "This is First Contact with Aliens." What does Foster mean by this, and how do we know?
6. 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?
7. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say that "expertise" is and is not?
8. 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"?
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 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster call the organization of The Boys in the Boat "kaleidoscopic" (14)?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Based on the language and tone of Foster's book, who is his imagined audience? Is this audience consistent throughout the book? Give specific textual examples as you analyze how Foster's language and tone reveal the presumed audience for this book.
Essay Topic 2
In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster makes a number of claims about the importance of newspapers. Do you agree, disagree, or agree with qualifications?
Essay Topic 3
In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster proposes that newspapers write the "first draft" of history, magazines write the "second draft," and history books write the "final draft." Argue for or against this claim--or accept it with qualifications.
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This section contains 1,093 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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