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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What group of people does the author think has the worst type of writing?
(a) Toddlers.
(b) Teachers.
(c) Musicians.
(d) Politicians.

2. Can a writer simply write the article with one interview?
(a) Yes, but it is better to have mulitple interviews and meld them together into one incident.
(b) Yes, but it should be avoided because people forget things in the first interview.
(c) No, editing is too hard with just one interview.
(d) No, there should always be mulitple interviews.

3. What gives nonfiction books life?
(a) White lies that sell certain facts.
(b) Pure hard facts.
(c) The cover of the book.
(d) Humanity and warmth.

4. Why is consistency in verb tense so important?
(a) Very tense consistency is important so that the reader does not become lost in the timing of events.
(b) It is important for slower readers to follow along.
(c) It is important so that verbs don't get confused with nouns.
(d) It is important for the development of characters, and to set up a plot.

5. Why does Zissner advise his clients to worry about the marketplace last?
(a) Because the marketplace never changes.
(b) Because the marketplace always needs books and will take anything.
(c) Because nobody knows what is going to sell.
(d) Writing a good piece for the marketplace is easy when they know what sells.

6. What is one of Zissner's biggest pet peeves?
(a) When people write in their books.
(b) When people say they can write a book as if it is easy.
(c) When people leave the toilet seat up.
(d) When people dog ear the pages of a book.

7. What does Zissner think of gimmicky writing?
(a) It is what gets writers through the door.
(b) It never works.
(c) It is the secret to selling a book.
(d) It is worth a try to sell a book or article.

8. Why is nonfiction more popular than fiction?
(a) Entertainment alternatives makes nonfiction more popular, even if it is a trend.
(b) It isn't more popular, it is just more widespread.
(c) It is what modern editors like to read.
(d) It is more entertaining since it is true.

9. What does the etymology of words mean?
(a) The written scripts.
(b) The history of words.
(c) The sound of words.
(d) The biology of words.

10. Why doesn't he simply cross out clutter?
(a) So that his students will learn to recognize clutter.
(b) Because it uses too much ink to cross out than to bracket.
(c) Because highlighting is easier to see.
(d) Because underlining is easier on the eyes.

11. What period of writing constantly used semicolons?
(a) Only 18th century England.
(b) The 19th century.
(c) All modern writing uses semicolons constantly.
(d) The 17th century.

12. What is an example of a dead language?
(a) Chinese because it never changes.
(b) Latin is dead because nobody speaks it anymore.
(c) Spanish because its roots are disintegrating.
(d) Italian because there is only one country that speaks it.

13. What is a dash useful for?
(a) Dashes are good in place of exclamations.
(b) Dashes act as pointers to a point and to set off parenthetical statementes.
(c) Dashes are good to separate thoughts.
(d) Dashes are good to connect complex sentences.

14. What method of writing does Zissner use?
(a) New Journalism.
(b) Old Journalism.
(c) Cluster writing.
(d) Bold paragraph approach.

15. What does reading aloud do for the writer?
(a) It allows writers to understand their own writing.
(b) It is a therapeutic process signifying the end of a story.
(c) It helps the writer compare their work to others.
(d) Catches simple mistakes and clumsy constructions.

Short Answer Questions

1. When does the writing start for a nonfiction article?

2. What is unity in writing?

3. How many people are in the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel?

4. Why is the above a problem?

5. Why does he recommend starting in the preferred tense?

(see the answer keys)

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