View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the image of putting an octopus to bed describe?
(a) Making all the voices quiet.
(b) Exactly what it says, putting an octopus to bed.
(c) Putting the nursing home residents to bed.
(d) Solving problems in a final draft.

2. How did Anne feel after the basketball game?
(a) Like she could write all day.
(b) Thankful for what she and her son had.
(c) Joyful.
(d) Depressed and hungry.

3. Anne tells her students they can use paranoia as wonderful material, and then recites a poem. Who is the author of the poem?
(a) C. S. Lewis.
(b) Buster Brown.
(c) She is.
(d) Phillip Lopate.

4. Instead of writing towards a plot, what does Anne suggest?
(a) Taking a break.
(b) Writing about birds.
(c) Writing about set design.
(d) Writing towards a scene.

5. What is the way to hold a reader's attention?
(a) Good plots.
(b) Drama.
(c) Pictures.
(d) Dialogue.

6. When Anne is participating in the school lunch writing assignment, what does she say about hers?
(a) Her father always made the perfect sandwiches.
(b) It was really about opening our insides in front of everyone. Just like writing.
(c) Homemade bread was something to be proud of.
(d) All the kids wanted to trade for her tuna salad.

7. What does Anne say perfectionism will block?
(a) The heart, mind, and spirit.
(b) Flow, form, and set design.
(c) Inventiveness, playfulness, and life force.
(d) Radio station KFKD and the distracting voices.

8. When Anne showed up at the Special Olympics to write an article, did she know what she was going to write?
(a) Yes, she was going to write a food review about the hot dogs there.
(b) No, she was not even very interested.
(c) She had no idea of what the finished article would be.
(d) Yes, about a girl on crutches.

9. Where does Anne tell her students to start with their writing?
(a) Childhood.
(b) Third grade.
(c) Poems.
(d) A near-death experience.

10. What does Anne say must first happen before we can recognize others for who they are?
(a) Ask them who they think they really are, it is so telling.
(b) Compassionately knowing who you are.
(c) Watch them for a year.
(d) Visit with them for a few hours.

11. What is Anne's first useful concept about?
(a) Sharp pencils.
(b) Ergonomic keyboards.
(c) Short assignments.
(d) Having lots of wine and chocolate around.

12. When a student is having difficulty writing, what does Anne ask them about?
(a) The current time and temperature.
(b) How messy they were as a child.
(c) Their school lunches.
(d) About the wire thingy on champagne bottles.

13. How does Anne define perfectionism?
(a) A mean, frozen form of idealism.
(b) The only way to write.
(c) Chewing gum will relieve it.
(d) An abundantly jealous form of writing.

14. What is Anne's third suggestion about putting together good dialogue?
(a) Put two people, who would never want to be together, in a close situation. They will have lots to say.
(b) Dialogue emerges entirely from the plot. Listen to the plot.
(c) Put two people who have lots in common together for teatime.
(d) Insert clever dialogue whenever possible.

15. What is Anne's father's occupation?
(a) Real Estate Agent.
(b) Hippie.
(c) Librarian.
(d) Writer.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do we want out of important characters, such as a narrator?

2. What does Alice Adams' ABDCE formula stand for, in writing a short story?

3. Why does Anne write?

4. How does Anne tell her students to train the unconscious to kick in?

5. What magazine did Anne write food reviews for, before it folded?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 655 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample