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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why do structured classes miss the point of teaching good writing?
(a) They focus more on the writing process than the final product.
(b) They focus more on the final product than the writing process.
(c) They focus more on talent and less on grades.
(d) They focus less on talent and more on getting good grades.

2. Why do criticism writers have to be at a higher level than other writers?
(a) Only those able to understand the arts can write about them, and very little people can.
(b) Criticism is harder to write about because it tends to be less attractive than other writing.
(c) Criticism writers are no different. They still need to use the same basic rules of writing.
(d) Criticism need to be stronger at literary elements because they need to recreate a scene or a song in the imagination of their readers with words only.

3. Do readers generally like knowing about athletes' personal lives?
(a) Either way, it doesn't really matter.
(b) Only when it pertains to athletes' outlooks on the sport.
(c) No, they just want to see the athletes play their game.
(d) Yes, they want all the information out there.

4. What does the process of memoir writing do for a writer?
(a) Nothing but write about everything he or she thinks about daily.
(b) It brings back bad memories that the person tried to forget.
(c) It brings up related memories that were pushed into the subconsious.
(d) It forces them to talk to distant relatives they hate.

5. What should writers focus on when writing travel pieces?
(a) Information and substance.
(b) Substance and exaggerating adjectives.
(c) Style and sentence structure.
(d) Style and substance.

6. How are writers like painters?
(a) Writers and painters will destory their work if it is not to their expectations.
(b) Writing isn't like painting at all. Neither has anything in common with the other.
(c) They both have the freedom of creativity with no rules that bind them.
(d) Painters start with models and then learn to create in they own way. Writers use formulas then find their own voice.

7. What do sports writers forget to do when writing about sports for so long?
(a) They use too many stats and not enough writing.
(b) They forget who their readers are and what they are writing about.
(c) They get into the lives of their athletes in too much depth.
(d) They forget to research the athletes personal lives.

8. Why should companies learn to produce better writing?
(a) To produce more writing jobs.
(b) To appeal to educators.
(c) To get more clients to understand their terms.
(d) In a capitalistic world, there is always competition and good writing reduces it.

9. Where is there an opportunity for great creative writing?
(a) Writing for the arts is the best opportunity to write creatively.
(b) At the local library.
(c) LIterary journals.
(d) Online at freelance job web sites.

10. What is a good way to edit a long story?
(a) Break it into sections to make it more manageable.
(b) Read it backwards.
(c) Have someone else read it aloud.
(d) Take a break and read it with fresh eyes.

11. What is a requirement for good literary criticism?
(a) Frequenting the theatre often.
(b) Knowing the subject that the writer wants to write about.
(c) Subscribing to arts magazines.
(d) Having a comparitive literature degress.

12. Cliche words should be avoided at all costs. What else should be avoided?
(a) Cliched details.
(b) Assuming the writer has already been to a place.
(c) Overly describing a single place.
(d) Not describing a place enough.

13. What is the advantage of a writer writing his or her own memoir?
(a) The writer does not have to do any interviews.
(b) The writer does not have to pay attention to basic grammar rules.
(c) The main subject is already known.
(d) They are lax and impersonal.

14. Writers should always look for ________________.
(a) People to tell them about a place so they don't have to actually go anywhere.
(b) Things that relate places to another.
(c) The unique aspects of a place.
(d) Making places more accessible to other people.

15. What are Zinsser's four articles of faith to writing well?
(a) Brevity, quick turnaround, clever sentences and little humanity.
(b) Clarity, simplicity, elasticity and minimalism.
(c) Simplicity, brevity, busy sentences and proper grammer.
(d) Clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity.

Short Answer Questions

1. What freedom does he give his students?

2. His article was supposed to be about his impressions of salt caravans, why didn't he write more about this?

3. Is sports writing different from any other form of good writing?

4. What does Zinsser think about writing memoirs?

5. What was the best advice Zinsser ever received about having opinions in writing?

(see the answer keys)

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