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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. What literary magazine does Gardner publish?
(a) Writer's Weekly.
(b) MSS.
(c) Reader's Digest.
(d) MRR.

2. Who wrote the book 1984?
(a) Ray Bradbury.
(b) George Orwell.
(c) J. D. Salinger.
(d) Thomas Pynchon.

3. What publishing house did Gardner send Grendel to first?
(a) Simon and Schulster.
(b) Penguin.
(c) Hannigan and Hannigan.
(d) Alfred A. Knopf.

4. What is the name of the writer's conference where Gardner has frequently worked with writing assistants?
(a) Last Dinner.
(b) Silver Mountain.
(c) Bread Loaf.
(d) Peabody.

5. Who is cited as the head of the writing program at Johns Hopkins and favors new and strange styles?
(a) Kurt Vonnegut.
(b) Max Apple.
(c) William Glass.
(d) John Barth.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Gardner cite as one of the most respected publishers of novels?

2. Which is one of the great graduate programs for writers that Gardner refers to in Chapter 2?

3. Gardner states in Chapter 2 that an individual style is developed as much by resistance as by what?

4. What author responded to the question of why she wrote fiction, "Because I'm good at it"?

5. Which writer, although thought of as a solitary genius, spent time working in close community with Ford Maddox Ford?

Short Essay Questions

1. What brings the author feelings of virtue in Chapter 2?

2. What should the successful teacher do for his writing students, according to Gardner?

3. Where does the author's manuscript go after he reviews the copywriter's corrections?

4. What autobiographical experiences does Gardner relate regarding editors in Chapter 3?

5. What is the "best" way to sustain a living as a writer, according to Gardner?

6. What does Gardner write about rejection letters in Chapter 3?

7. What does Gardner write of writers' workshops in Chapter 2?

8. Describe some of the qualities of bad writing workshops in Chapter 2.

9. What does Gardner say regarding the study of philosophy and psychology?

10. What does Gardner say in regard to literary dynasties and writing workshops in Chapter 2?

(see the answer keys)

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