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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What has literature transformed into?
(a) Literature is still mainly novels,and very rarely includes other writing.
(b) Literature now includes poetry.
(c) Literature now includes nonfiction and fiction alike.
(d) Literature has not transformed at all.

2. What is the main attitude that writers have today?
(a) To write literature, the way it was defined before WWII.
(b) To write well, regardless of whether it is fiction or nonfiction.
(c) To write modern literature and be the next best author.
(d) To be published in the New Yorker.

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

4. What is the main thing readers think when starting an article?
(a) They want to know whether it is worth it to read the article.
(b) They want to know how long it will take them to read the article.
(c) They want to know how soon they will find the answer to the original thesis question of an article.
(d) They want to know whether the writer is credible or not.

5. Who do authors please first with their writing?
(a) Family members.
(b) Readers.
(c) Themselves.
(d) Editors.

6. What are some limitations of perfect grammar?
(a) Lack of expressionism when grammar is perfect.
(b) Some writers don't have perfect grammar and therefore cannot get published.
(c) Good grammer makes for boring writing.
(d) Hindering points, establishing author moods, and painting word pictures.

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

8. What does Zissner say is a common desire of every writer?
(a) To mae sure grammar is perfect.
(b) To pay perfect attention to detail.
(c) To find shortcuts.
(d) To take the long route to everything.

9. How does Zissner have the ability to choose words for the American Heritage Dictionary?
(a) He is on the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Panel
(b) He created the Dictionary.
(c) He works for the American Heritage Dictionary
(d) He is related to someone on the panel.

10. What is a major job of a nonfiction writer?
(a) Conducting interviews with people who know about the writing project subject.
(b) Learning as much as possible about a subject before taking on a project.
(c) Taking on a project with a clean slate. Just like a jury in a legal battle.
(d) Majoring in the subject they will write about.

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

12. What is a common problem writers have?
(a) Starting at the true beginning.
(b) Not writing at the same time every day.
(c) Writing too much at first.
(d) Writing too little.

13. What is Zissner's point of view on the debate between literature and journalism?
(a) He wants to go back to the pre-WWII form of writing.
(b) He agrees that journalism is bad writing.
(c) He agrees that literature is the only true form of good writing.
(d) He believes it doesn't matter, and that good writing is good writing.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the real audience in a piece of writing?

2. Does Zissner believe in the journalism model for good writing?

3. Why does Zissner advise his clients to worry about the marketplace last?

4. Why is the above a problem?

5. What is the biggest mistake a writer can make when creating sentences?

(see the answer keys)

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