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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 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what implicit assertion about online writing does Foster make?
2. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what does Foster say is the purpose of the academic five-paragraph essay?
3. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," why is "foreward" spelled with an "e" instead of as we usually see it, "forward"?
4. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," Foster mentions a "squib." What is a squib, in this context?
5. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster tells us that changing the structure of a story changes its what?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. At the end of "Building Blocks of Arguments," Foster discusses mistakes in claims, grounds, and warrants. He gives the example of someone born in American Samoa claiming to be a U.S. citizen. Since American Samoa is not a territory that the U.S. recognizes as conferring birthright citizenship, Foster says that this argument is mistaken in its grounds. Is it? Explain why or why not.
3. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say about biographies and the length of time that has passed since the lives of their subjects?
4. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what does Foster seem to admire about the Lansing State Journal's coverage of the Nassar scandal?
5. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what relationship does Foster point out between reportorial presence and time?
6. 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?
7. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," why does Foster say that All the President's Men is "meta-journalism"?
8. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what two kinds of notes does Foster discuss and what are their functions?
9. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster call the organization of The Boys in the Boat "kaleidoscopic" (14)?
10. 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.
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Consider Foster's plea for critical thinking in Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources." He blames the presence of false information on the web on a lack of "gatekeepers" (248) and calls the lack of "quality control" on the web a "fatal flaw" (246). Think carefully about the following questions and then write an essay in which you give your opinions about media gatekeeping.
• Who has historically controlled media, and what has this control meant for those without a voice in traditional media?
• Have the masses of people historically been fully informed, critical thinkers?
• If there were "gatekeepers" ensuring the truth of everything published on the web, who would they be and how would this alter the function of the web in the average person's life?
Essay Topic 2
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 3
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?
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This section contains 1,231 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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