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. In Chapter 1, Gardner writes that one is unable to write for everyone, "try to win the audience both of Saul Bellow and" whom?

2. What psychologist suggests that Jack and the Beanstalk is about penis envy?

3. Gardner notes in Chapter 1 that all writing requires some measure of a ____ state.

4. Gardner suggests that the dazzling poetry of Mercutio's Queen Mab speech is not the same poetry that who speaks?

5. What does Gardner claim is helpful, if it can be kept in partial control, to keep the novelist driven?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Gardner remark of the author's sense of observation in Chapter 1?

2. What hypothetical situation does Gardner uses as an example of plot in Chapter 1?

3. What essential things must an aspiring author understand in order to pursue writing?

4. How does Gardner define "setting," "plot," and "theme" in Chapter 1?

5. Who does Gardner refer to as the "best" novelists in Chapter 1? What lesson does he cite of them?

6. What state does good fiction elicit in the reader, according to Gardner?

7. How does Gardner explain characterization and story through his hypothetical story in Chapter 1?

8. What does Gardner write about showy language in Chapter 1?

9. What does Gardner say of writers with "bad taste" in language in Chapter 1?

10. What does Gardner write of expressing characters' emotions in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the biographical history of John Gardner. How did he come to writing? What was his childhood like? Where did he study?

Essay Topic 2

What does Gardner write about the sense of perception and the ability of writers to create characters unlike themselves? What authors does he remark are excellent at this task?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the qualities which make a good or a bad teacher in a fiction writing class. What are some of the "red flags" which indicate an author should leave the program?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 784 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample