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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. 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?

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

4. How does King describe the image discussed in chapter two?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What inferences can you make from King's statement that writing is magic? Explain in your own words.

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

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

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

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

6. Can you explain how King created the character of Carrie and why he disliked her so?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What conclusions can you draw from King's statements about a writer having his own space in which to work? What alternatives are there for those people who want to write but find it impossible to obtain a space in their living quarters?

Essay Topic 2

King is a prolific writer yet he mentions writer's block in several places in the book, On Writing. Do you think this has been a hindrance in King's writing? What judgment would you make about King's frustration with writer's block? Explain your answer.

Essay Topic 3

King states that good writers can improve, but bad writers will never be good writers.How can good writers improve? Why won't bad writers improve? Cite reasons from the text to support your argument.

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