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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 does having more complex characters lead to?
(a) More confusion.
(b) Less possibilities.
(c) More possibilities.
(d) Less confusion.

2. According to the author, what is an engaging narrative never about?
(a) Ordinary people doing ordinary things for extraordinary reasons.
(b) Extraordinary people doing ordinary things for extraordinary reasons.
(c) Ordinary people doing extraordinary things for extraordinary reasons.
(d) Ordinary people doing ordinary things for ordinary reasons.

3. How is the event described?
(a) What happens outside of the narrative and why.
(b) What happens outside of the narrative and when.
(c) What happens in the narrative and when.
(d) What happens in the narrative and why.

4. What is the function of a major character?
(a) To be interesting, but not necessarily believable.
(b) To be neither interesting nor believable.
(c) To be believable, but not necessarily interesting.
(d) To be interesting and believable.

5. How often are sources of inspiration altered?
(a) Hardly at all.
(b) Sometimes.
(c) Never.
(d) Very often.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the author think can also provide ideas for additional characters?

2. Why is it necessary for a reader to care about the characters in a narrative?

3. What is the author's theory about fiction in Chapter 5?

4. What do walk-ons lend to a narrative?

5. What does the author think about characters from unrelated ideas?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of act is writing and how does it compare to other mediums?

2. What is a helpful tip about keeping track of character names that the author provides at the end of Chapter 4?

3. What is writing based on "issue", and how can it be a source for characters?

4. What are some places that a writer can look to find the inspiration for characters?

5. How does a writer create a strong initial impression for a character?

6. What is the difference between "walk-ons" and minor characters?

7. What does the author mean when he writes about "raising the emotional stakes"?

8. How and why should a writer vary the names used in their stories?

9. What does a character who becomes more heroic convey to the reader?

10. What is milieu and which types of stories feature it as the main narrative?

(see the answer keys)

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