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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does White initially think his biography should be shorter?
(a) He thinks it will be easier to understand.
(b) He thinks the stories will have more impact.
(c) He thinks his life is not that interesting.
(d) He thinks the book will be more exciting.

2. What reason does White give his agent for putting the book, Charlotte's Web, aside for a while?
(a) To allow it to breathe.
(b) To allow it to seem new.
(c) To allow it to ripen.
(d) To allow it to seem familiar.

3. What type of people did Ross hire when starting the New Yorker, according to White?
(a) Motivated if inexperienced.
(b) Talented if inexperienced.
(c) Talented and experienced.
(d) Unmotivated and inexperienced.

4. Which one of the following is not included in the advice White gives to fourth-graders in Columbus, Ohio about how to write a book?
(a) Set aside several days for the writing process.
(b) One has to want to write a book.
(c) The writer has to keep going until the end.
(d) Think of a subject and begin.

5. Who writes the score for the children's concert of "The Trumpet of the Swan".
(a) Anne Boyd.
(b) Benjamin Lee.
(c) Lindley Evans.
(d) John Antill.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long does White carefully study the screenplay for "Charlotte's Web" before returning it to his agent with his annotations?

2. Which John Steinbeck book was the result of an assignment for Holiday magazine that White could not complete?

3. What response does White offer to a confused student at Newton High School?

4. How many proposals does White have to make a movie of "Charlotte's Web"?

5. In his letter to fifth grade students, how many sheep does White say that he has?

Short Essay Questions

1. In another letter to Stanley, what does White say about his use of traction?

2. What is White's problem with taxi cab doors in his 1950 memo to Harold Ross?

3. What does White reveal about his farm in his answer to the questions of Mrs. Bard's fifth-grade class in Larchmont, New York?

4. What ailments does White have in 1963, and how does he write about his recovery?

5. What illnesses does Katharine battle between 1960 and 1965, and how does she adjust her work schedule?

6. What question does Cathy Durham ask White, and how does he respond?

7. What complications does White have with his vision in 1982, and how many years does he provide newsbreaks for the New Yorker before retiring?

8. In a December, 1951 letter, how does White respond to a depressed undergraduate student about her plans to become a writer?

9. What feedback and advice does White offer to James Thurber for the story,"The Thirteen Clocks"?

10. How does Hanna-Barbera acquire the rights to produce the animated motion picture version of "Charlotte's Web"?

(see the answer keys)

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