Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. According to Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," what are the sidebar discussions found in the book's back matter called?
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 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what does Foster call the "second draft of history"?
4. The section of this book called "What's Going on Around Here?" is what part of the book?
5. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what does Foster cite as one of the main reasons that Americans have historically trusted the news media?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. 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?
3. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say that "expertise" is and is not?
4. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." how does Foster suggest that a reader can examine the author's use of quotes to determine bias?
5. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster call the organization of The Boys in the Boat "kaleidoscopic" (14)?
6. 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?
7. On page 33 of "Building Blocks of Arguments," Foster compares claims and grounds to two people standing next to one another at a dance and says warrants are what "pins" them together so that they can "go steady." Explain his meaning.
8. 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?
9. 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?
10. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," what are the two main functions of the prologue that Foster discusses?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
In Chapter 9, "Living the News," Foster discusses the work of Joan Didion. Write an essay in which you describe his tone in this discussion of Didion and then analyze how he creates this tone.
Essay Topic 2
Choose a passage of one of Hunter S. Thompson's essays to analyze. Explain the techniques Thompson uses that are more commonly associated with fiction than with nonfiction, and explain the relationship between your observations and Foster's remarks about Thompson's writing in Chapter 9, "Living the News."
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.
|
This section contains 1,042 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
