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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The change that King made in his writing life after his wife's intervention is seen by King as a symbol. What does this symbol represent?
(a) A change in the meaning of his writing.
(b) A change to a deeper kind of symbolism in his writing.
(c) A change in his writing style.
(d) A change in the priorities of his life.

2. What is the name of the second chapter of this book?
(a) What Writing Is.
(b) On Writing.
(c) On Living.
(d) Writing My Way.

3. Why does it prove valuable to King to work for a local newspaper?
(a) Because the job with the paper earns King a lot of money.
(b) Because the editor keeps him so busy he didn't have time to get into trouble.
(c) Because he wins a national sports writing contest while there.
(d) Because the editor teaches King how to edit his work.

4. How does King's mother die?
(a) She dies of cirrhosis.
(b) She dies of uterine cancer.
(c) She dies of injuries received in a traffic accident.
(d) She dies from an overdose.

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.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the character Carrie based on?

2. What happens to Carrie several months later after its initial sale?

3. What kind of a book is On Writing?

4. Where is the cloth mentioned in King's image located within the image?

5. According to King, what is the second condition that, if readers cannot accept, should be a reason to stop reading his book?

Short Essay Questions

1. What relationship is there between writing as a career and writing as a passion? Explain in your own words.

2. As a child, King had many chronic ear and throat infections. How might these illnesses lead King to writing?

3. What facts or ideas show the beginnings of King's career as a master of horror?

4. In what way is the chapter, What Writing Is, different from the usual book on writing?

5. How would you summarize the different jobs King had during his early career? How might these jobs have influenced his work?

6. What are some of the aspects of writing that King is not going to emphasize in the chapter, What Writing Is?

7. When King asks the writer to accept 'the magic of writing, but to take it seriously', what is he saying?

8. One of King's babysitters was particularly cruel. How might she have affected his later writings?

9. In a short paper, summarize the main points of King's life as an author.

10. Why does King write? Explain in your own words based on the chapters, C.V., and What Writing Is.

(see the answer keys)

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