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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part IV: Chapter 20 The Sound of Your Voice.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the mood or voice in a piece?
(a) Mood or voice is the way the characters speak to one another.
(b) The voice is the authority figure in a nonfiction piece.
(c) Mood or voice is the way a piece sounds to the reader in the imaginations inner ear.
(d) The mood is the way the characters feel in a piece.

2. How does Zinsser approach unusual words?
(a) He is very conservative and will never cross a proper word line.
(b) He is modern when it comes to English, but would rather keep it simple.
(c) He is very welcoming of a transforming English language.
(d) He accepts some, but not all.

3. What happens when a product of writing is never read?
(a) It gets burned.
(b) It becomes worthless and a waste of good time.
(c) The author's reputation is harmed.
(d) It gets categorized under the bad books section.

4. What is unity in writing?
(a) Unity is when the characters in a story are united and never disagree with one another.
(b) Unity is when characters are unipolar and one dimensional.
(c) Unity is when the writer sticks to one plot.
(d) Unity is where the writer maintains consistency throughout an entire piece.

5. What tense does Zissner recommend when starting a new piece?
(a) Combination third and first.
(b) Second person.
(c) Third person.
(d) First person.

Short Answer Questions

1. How are writers like painters?

2. How rigid are the lines between proper and improper English usage?

3. What period of writing constantly used semicolons?

4. Why doesn't Zissner provide examples of these writers he admires?

5. What stops Americans from writing memoirs?

(see the answer key)

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