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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. Gardner compares Melville's Moby Dick with what in Chapter 1?

2. In what novel does Gardner note the rooftop scene as being one of surprise in Chapter 1?

3. What is, according to Gardner, the one quality in fiction that cannot be faked?

4. What was Gardner's first wife's name?

5. Gardner writes in Chapter 1 that when the central character is a victim there is no what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Gardner suggest as ways to understand the psychology of characters unlike themselves?

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

3. What authors does Gardner use to illustrate language and character in Chapter 1?

4. What does Gardner say in Chapter 1 regarding "verbal sensitivity?" What does this term mean?

5. What does Gardner relate about the "author's character" in Chapter 1? How does he describe "special intelligence?"

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

7. What does Gardner write of Nabokov in Chapter 1?

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

9. What does Gardner remark about theme in Chapter 1?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss what literary dynasties are. What are some examples of literary dynasties? How does an author go about finding his own community?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the negative aspects of going for a graduate degree from a writer's workshop. What cons does Gardner cite for these programs?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the exceptions that Gardner makes in reference to James Joyce, Franz Kafka, and Samuel Beckett. What in their writing differs from the traditional and still "works"?

(see the answer keys)

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