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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. Which one of White's books is co-authored by Katharine?

2. In a newsbreak report to Harold Ross, how long does it take White to locate the paste?

3. What concern does White have about additional editions of "Stuart Little"?

4. How does White describe Adolph Ochs, publisher of the New York Times?

5. What possible excuse does White provide for the New Yorker's ignorance in his humorous letter of outrage in 1945?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does White discover the New Yorker?

2. Why does Katharine hesitate before agreeing to marry White?

3. What is the New York Herald Tribune's response to White's letter, and how does he reply?

4. What is Katharine Angell's background?

5. As provided in his letters, what are some of White's opinions of the war and drafting?

6. What is the topic of the humorous letter of outrage that White sends to Harold Ross in July, 1945?

7. Why does White write to Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and the director of the Bronx Zoo respectively?

8. What is "One Man's Meat"

9. Who is Alice Burchfield?

10. What happens in 1941 that leads to White's work in Washington?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

White answers a number of letters and questions from students about writing and education in general.

1) Describe White's explanation of the process for writing a book to a fourth-grade class in Columbus, Ohio.

2) Explain White's advice to a depressed college student as well as his advice to a confused senior, and his comments about his own writing identity.

3) Compare and contrast the advice that he gives to his granddaughter, Martha, with the responses that he sends to other college students.

Essay Topic 2

In 1925, White takes a big step in his career and begins working for the New Yorker.

1) Describe White's situation after he returns from his road trip and before he discovers the New Yorker magazine.

2) Explain how White first learns about the New Yorker and the way he begins writing for it.

3) Describe how White writes about his initial impression of the New Yorker and the people he meets there.

Essay Topic 3

An editorial in the New York Herald Tribune outrages White, whose response sparks a public debate.

1) Explain the editorial that is published in the New York Herald Tribune and the "loyalty oath" it discusses.

2) Describe why White objects to the editorial and his letter to the New York Herald Tribune.

3) Explain the New York Herald Tribune's response to White and why they consider his thinking to be dangerous during that time in American history.

4) Analyze the irony in White's criticism of a newspaper publishing an opinion that he disagrees with.

(see the answer keys)

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