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

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

3. What does the second chapter open with King presenting to the reader?
(a) A piece of advice.
(b) An injunction.
(c) An image.
(d) A monologue.

4. What does King define writing as?
(a) A juxtaposition of words and images.
(b) Visualization of scenes.
(c) Telepathy.
(d) The creation of images in a reader's head.

5. When does King get the idea for Carrie?
(a) When his wife tells him a story she overheard.
(b) After taking a job at a high school.
(c) After reading about another girl.
(d) After watching a similar TV show.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does it prove valuable to King to work for a local newspaper?

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

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

4. What happens to Carrie when King sends it off to the publisher?

5. How did King describe the cloth's appearance in his image?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. After Tabitha King's intervention in her husband's addictions, King insisted on moving his desk. How was this symbolically important to him?

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

7. How did King learn to edit his work? Why was this important to the young writer?

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

9. 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?

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

(see the answer keys)

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