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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 Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster discusses Pollan's How to Change Your Mind as an example of what?
(a) Science writing that begins in media res.
(b) Why self-help books can use many non-chronological structures.
(c) Science writing that does not use chronological order.
(d) Why self-help books are better off using a chronological structure.

2. According to "The Building Blocks of Arguments," what is the implicit argument of most nonfiction writing?
(a) That the reader should change their beliefs or behavior.
(b) That the writer's angle on the subject is the correct one.
(c) That the writer has the authority to write about the subject.
(d) That the subject matter is important enough to read about.

3. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what does Foster say about offering equal space and analysis to opposing arguments?
(a) This is part of fair and balanced reporting.
(b) It strikes the modern reader as dishonest.
(c) It is confusing to the reader.
(d) This can destroy a story.

4. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," one of the main points that Foster wants to make about All the President's Men is what?
(a) Woodward and Bernstein used too many anonymous sources.
(b) It is unusual for people to write about themselves in the third person.
(c) All the President's Men is a work of nonfiction.
(d) Woodward and Bernstein faced serious obstacles in investigating the Watergate story.

5. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." what does Foster say about disclaimers like "I don't dislike soccer" (52)?
(a) That double negatives are generally used to disguise a lie.
(b) That it probably means the speaker actually does dislike soccer.
(c) That this kind of phrasing often introduces counterclaims.
(d) That it is good when authors clarify what ground is "neutral" to them.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what does Foster say is the difference between "hard news" and "soft news"?

2. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," Foster uses the Latin expression in media res. What does this expression mean?

3. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," one of the main points that Foster wants to make about All the President's Men is that it is a kind of writing he calls what?

4. Based on Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," how would Foster sum up the place of newspapers in today's world?

5. In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," what does Foster say is the point of having a variety of media sources?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 5, "It May Just Be Me, But..." how does Foster suggest that a reader can examine the author's use of quotes to determine bias?

2. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster say that focus and telos can change if the structure of a work is changed?

3. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," why does Foster call the organization of The Boys in the Boat "kaleidoscopic" (14)?

4. Why, in Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," does Foster say that it is both good and bad news that all communication has a "grammar"?

5. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what does Foster say is the purpose of his reader being asked to think like a writer, and what is one example of how this works?

6. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say is the consequence of a "land without gatekeepers" (68)?

7. In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," Foster discusses tables of contents and indexes. What is similar about these two things and what is different?

8. On page 33 of "Building Blocks of Arguments," Foster compares claims and grounds to two people standing next to one another at a dance and says warrants are what "pins" them together so that they can "go steady." Explain his meaning.

9. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what two problems does Foster identify with the use of data as support?

10. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say about biographies and the length of time that has passed since the lives of their subjects?

(see the answer keys)

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