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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. What gives nonfiction books life?

2. Why do journalists need to perfect uncluttered writing?

3. What tense does Zissner recommend when starting a new piece?

4. What group of people does the author think has the worst type of writing?

5. What is a natural inclination for writers when they start a piece?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do writers have a hard time starting at the "true beginning?"

2. What is unity in writing?

3. How do you know when an article is a failure?

4. Why are thesauri so good for brainstorming?

5. Why are interviews so important to an article?

6. What does Zinsser make of this distinction of fiction versus nonfiction in the literary world?

7. Writers are told to study the market before submitting pieces. Why is this advice irrelevant?

8. What skills does an interviewer need to possess?

9. When can some writers break grammar rules?

10. In what point of view should a writer start writing? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Timing is important in humor writing because the reader should always be surprised. What is another thing to consider when writing humorously? How does humor evolve? Does it evolve?

Essay Topic 2

Choosing the right words is a tedious process. How often did you find yourself nitpicking over the right words? Did the exercises in the class help you come to the realization about finding the correct words? What was on aspect of word searching that you found to be fun, or uninteresting?

Essay Topic 3

What type of writing should not be changed and why? What are some ways to better industry standards, where wording needs to remain uniform?

(see the answer keys)

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