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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. In what manner does King say writers must always consider writing?
(a) Realistically.
(b) Morally.
(c) Ideologically.
(d) Seriously.

2. 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 creative process changes the image to fit the story.
(c) The image becomes more elaborated.
(d) As the reader reads about it, the details change.

3. What does King do while editor of his school paper?
(a) He creates one of the best versions of the paper ever.
(b) He writes a satirical version of the paper.
(c) He wins a national contest for the paper.
(d) He copies other people's stories and publishes them.

4. What is the first thing King requests in the second chapter that his readers accept about writing?
(a) Writing is creative.
(b) Writing is an exercise.
(c) Writing is magic.
(d) Writing is a way to build on your senses.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What happened when Carrie sells to a paperback publisher?

2. Whom does King meet while in college?

3. What is the first chapter, C.V., about?

4. What is King's overall opinion on writing as a profession?

5. When does King begin to write stories?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conclusions can you draw from King's comparison of writing as a career versus writing as a passion? Explain in your own words.

2. Why does King want his readers to put his book down if they are unable to accept that writing is magic?

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

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

5. What are some of the things King remembers from his childhood? How might they have affected his writing?

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

7. King opens the chapter, What Writing Is, with an image. What is the image and how is it described? In what ways is this image different from other images presented in books? What is King's motive in doing this? Do you think this is an effective way to allow the reader to see the scene? Why or why not?

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

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

10. King believed that writing is telepathy. What is telepathy in the context of this statement?

(see the answer keys)

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