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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What is the second specific item King states his book on writing will NOT be about?
(a) Voice.
(b) Vocabulary.
(c) Grammar.
(d) Diction.

3. How does his writing help King financially?
(a) Often his stories would sell when they were in serious financial trouble.
(b) King's writing didn't really help financially.
(c) King's stories never made much, but every little bit helped.
(d) King's writing was a steady, but small source of income.

4. Where does King get a job to help pay for college?
(a) At Canon Mills and Mfg. Co.
(b) At Massachusetts Mills and Dye Co.
(c) At Worumbo Mills and Weaving.
(d) At West Point Peppermill Mfg Co.

5. What happens with the electromagnet experiment?
(a) It darkens his entire apartment building.
(b) It burns up their house.
(c) It is too big and blows out a neighborhood transformer.
(d) It shocks Stephen and Dave King, and sends them to the hospital.

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

7. Why does King throw the story Carrie in the trash can?
(a) Because he is too busy to continue.
(b) Because his wife hates the story.
(c) Because he doesn't like the main character Carrie.
(d) Because he feels he doesn't know enough about the events that went on in a girl's locker room.

8. What number appears in King's image?
(a) The number three.
(b) It is not specified.
(c) The number seven.
(d) The number 24/7.

9. What kind of stories does King particularly enjoy?
(a) Humorous stories by Mark Twain.
(b) Horror stories by Edgar Allen Poe.
(c) Stories by O. Henry.
(d) Mystery stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

10. When King's principal hears about King's episode with the newspaper, what does he suggest?
(a) He tells him to stay out of trouble in the future.
(b) He tells him to get a job with a local paper as a sports writer.
(c) He encourages King to quit writing.
(d) He tells him to get a job to keep him busy.

11. In the chapter, C.V., King makes a discovery about writing. What is this discovery?
(a) He discovers that his writing is not very good.
(b) He discovers that writing is an obsession.
(c) He discovers that writing controls his life.
(d) He discovers that writing was something he likes to do.

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

13. What is one reason for reading the book, On Writing?
(a) It provides King's views on other writer's formulas for success.
(b) It provides a discussion of King's famous works.
(c) It provides inspiration.
(d) It provides a formats for writers.

14. In the chapter, C.V., King touches on the theme of the book. What is this theme?
(a) Writing as a career.
(b) Writing for money.
(c) Writing as magic.
(d) Writing as life support.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. According to King, who determines what the image in the second chapter looks like?

2. What does King suggest that readers who do not take writing seriously do?

3. Why does King miss his first year of school?

4. When does King get the idea for Carrie?

5. In what manner does King say writers must always consider writing?

(see the answer keys)

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