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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the character Carrie based on?
(a) One of his students.
(b) Two girls he knew in high school.
(c) His imagination.
(d) A friend of his wife's.

2. What happened when Carrie sells to a paperback publisher?
(a) King receives $200,000 and his life changes forever.
(b) The paperback publisher offers King an advance of $400,000.
(c) The book sells for $400,000, of which King received one third.
(d) The paperback publisher rejects the initial version of the book and demanded revisions.

3. Where on the animal is something unusual attached?
(a) On its back.
(b) On a collar around its neck.
(c) On its side.
(d) On its foot.

4. What is King's overall opinion on details in writing?
(a) Supply those the reader would never get on his own.
(b) Supply key details and a couple of minor ones for color.
(c) Only supply the minimum.
(d) Supply all major details, but let the reader fill in the minor ones.

5. How many specific facts are provided by King about the entire image in the second chapter?
(a) An object, its color, and its number.
(b) Five.
(c) Only two: the object and a number on its back.
(d) Four items and their location/relation to one another.

6. To which substance is King first addicted as a young man?
(a) Marijuana.
(b) Alcohol.
(c) Prescription pain-killers.
(d) Cocaine.

7. What is a major theme in the second chapter of King's book?
(a) The importance of studying grammar and vocabulary.
(b) The writer's life.
(c) The necessity of studying other authors.
(d) Reasons or motivations for writing.

8. Whom does King meet while in college?
(a) His future wife.
(b) His future agent.
(c) His writing mentor.
(d) His future publisher.

9. According to King, who determines what the image in the second chapter looks like?
(a) The translator.
(b) The reader.
(c) The writer.
(d) No one.

10. If a reader does not see an image the same way as the writer, how has the image changed?
(a) The image doesn't change. It is the same image.
(b) The image becomes more elaborated.
(c) The creative process changes the image to fit the story.
(d) As the reader reads about it, the details change.

11. King's early addiction soon added another one. What is it?
(a) Cocaine.
(b) Marijuana.
(c) Over the counter pain-killers.
(d) Heroin.

12. What is the first object described in the image in the second chapter?
(a) A head.
(b) A cage.
(c) A bird.
(d) A snake.

13. Where does King discover horror stories?
(a) At the local theater.
(b) In the school library.
(c) At his aunt and uncle's house.
(d) At the newsstand.

14. According to King, what is the second condition that, if readers cannot accept, should be a reason to stop reading his book?
(a) That writing is a serious job with inexplicable aspects.
(b) That writing will probably not make a lot of money for the reader.
(c) That the writing is drudgery.
(d) That fame and fortune are fleeting.

15. What does King suggest that readers who do not take writing seriously do?
(a) Read the book, but ignore the advice that conflicts with the reader's beliefs.
(b) Ignore his advice completely.
(c) Stop reading the book.
(d) Study the book more carefully.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does King throw the story Carrie in the trash can?

2. What is one of King's last jobs before becoming a full-time writer?

3. What is the third specific item King states his book on writing will NOT be?

4. Of the details King has supplied the reader regarding his image in the second chapter, what does King hope the reader will primarily focus on?

5. King states that writing is a job that includes aspects that are ____.

(see the answer keys)

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