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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. Do readers generally like knowing about athletes' personal lives?

2. What are Zinsser's four articles of faith to writing well?

3. What is the danger of overusing humor in writing?

4. What advice does Zinsser give to employees who want to change business writing?

5. Should a writer use different voices for different types of writing?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do writers need to develop their own voice? How does writing compare to other art forms?

2. Does Zinsser think that scientists can write?

3. Why is humor the most powerful tool for a nonfiction writer?

4. Why should exact details be avoided in memoirs? What approach should writers take instead?

5. Why are Americans scared to write about themselves?

6. What is a good way to learn how to write with humor? How much humor should be used?

7. What tense do business writer stend to use that hurts their writing?

8. How is taste involved in writing?

9. Why should writers forget about the final product when they are writing?

10. What needs to be described in a travel article?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the bracket method? Do you find this method useful? Compare it to crossing out.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

How have you heard the Eiffel Tower described? Regardless of whether you've seen it or not, describe it a different way, positive or negative. Avoid cliches.

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This section contains 716 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample