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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 should every paragraph end with?

2. How does a writer become better at his craft?

3. What is unity in writing?

4. What does Zissner believe authors are fearful of in their writing?

5. Why is consistency in verb tense so important?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are Zinsser's thoughts on the writing profession?

2. Why does Zinsser use brackets on students' papers?

3. When is it acceptable for a new word to enter the English languages American Heritage Dictionary? Can you give an example?

4. When can some writers break grammar rules?

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

6. Does Zinsser believe it is important for an author's personality to shine through his or her writing?

7. What is the major problem with American writing in terms of simplicity?

8. Who does Zinsser say are the worst writers guilty of clutter?

9. What is unity in writing?

10. What does the craft of writing consist of?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

What are some industries that use corporate-speak or jargon in the majority of their writing? Why have these industries continued to use the same type of terrible writing? What can a person in the industry do to change this? Why would they be scared to change the status quo?

Essay Topic 3

What do you think about Zinsser's point of view on the audience? Who does he feel is more important? Do you agree that a writer should ignore their potential audience and focus solely on pleasing themselves first? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 744 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample