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

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. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what criticism does Foster level against Malcolm Gladwell?

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

2. In "Interrogating the Text," what does Foster say the purpose of interrogating text is?

3. 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?

4. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," why does Foster say that Woodward and Bernstein do not belong in the category of New Journalism?

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

6. 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?

7. In Chapter 12, "That Is So Last Year," what difference does Foster explain between primary and secondary sources?

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

9. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," what criticism does Foster level at Fox News?

10. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what are the three types of science writing that Foster describes, and what are the differences among them?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the "four Ps" that Foster discusses in Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," and what is the function of each?

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," Foster explains several questions that are important to ask while reading opinions and editorials. Explain each of these questions and its importance in critical reading.

Essay Topic 3

Does Foster follow his own advice and "rules" in this book, or does he say one thing and do another? For instance, in Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," Foster says the first job of the writer, on page one, is to get the reader to be interested enough to read page two. When you got to the end of page one, how interested were you in reading page two? Does this mean that Foster followed his own advice, or not? Consider the rest of the book in this way. Use specific textual evidence to evaluate whether How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor lives up to the standards that Foster sets for other authors.

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