View a FREE sample

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 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what two errors in thinking prevent people from embracing gatekeeping?

2. In Chapter 12, "Life from the Inside," Foster calls Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation "pointillist" (179). What quality is he saying this book has?

3. Using an argument like "Democrats just want to take your guns" in an address to a gun rights organization in a heavily Republican area would be an example of which flaw in argumentation?

4. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," Foster says that the placement of newspaper columns often creates a "dichotomy." What is he accusing them of doing?

5. In Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," what form does Foster say takes its name from the French term for reminiscence?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," Foster reveals the central issue of the book. What does he say the issue is, and why does he believe it is worth devoting a book to?

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

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

6. 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?

7. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster say is problematic about the internet and web?

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

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

10. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," what does Foster admire about the writing of John McPhee?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," Foster says that titles are important guideposts to meaning. Evaluate the effectiveness of the chapter titles that Foster has chosen for this book.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Write a comparison and contrast essay in which you explain how reading nonfiction is both similar and dissimilar to reading fiction.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,060 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample