View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To which editor at New American Library did Gardner send The Sunlight Diaries?
(a) Bob Gottlieb.
(b) Harry Crews.
(c) David Segal.
(d) Michael Harper.

2. One of the favorite survival jobs of writers has in recent years been what?
(a) Night auditing.
(b) Office clerks.
(c) High school teaching.
(d) College teaching.

3. What author responded to the question of why she wrote fiction, "Because I'm good at it"?
(a) Edith Wharton.
(b) Flannery O'Connor.
(c) Sylvia Plath.
(d) Joyce Carol Oates.

4. In Chapter 2, Gardner writes that writing, "like the study of classical piano, is not practical but _____."
(a) Aristocratic.
(b) Immediate.
(c) Impulsive.
(d) Superfluous.

5. The study of what can give the young writer a clear sense of why our age is so troubled?
(a) English.
(b) Philology.
(c) Drama.
(d) Philosophy.

Short Answer Questions

1. What author once remarked "the best way to become a writer is to go off and write"?

2. Who is cited as the head of the writing program at Johns Hopkins and favors new and strange styles?

3. What author of experimental fiction teaches at Rice?

4. Which manuscript did Gardner send out which got a reply suggesting he cut it by a third?

5. Gardner states in Chapter 3 that a writer has to go far out of his way to turn his what against him?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does Gardner open Chapter 3 with, regarding the young writer's focus on publication?

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

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

6. What are Gardner's workshops like for writers?

7. Why must a teacher avoid projecting their aesthetic view on writers?

8. What does Gardner remark about the loyalty of an editor?

9. What does Gardner say of editors in Chapter 3? What can one do to appeal to an editor?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 774 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample