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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 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," why does Foster introduce the example of Malcolm Gladwell?
(a) To illustrate the idea of a science writer who has developed a "brand" for his writing.
(b) To show how a clever writer can overcome public skepticism.
(c) To contrast with the more rigorous writing of Neil deGrasse Tyson.
(d) To provide an example of amateur profiling.

2. Whom does Foster name, in Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," as the "inheritors" (164) of the legacy of Apologia Pro Vita Sua?
(a) Artists and professors.
(b) Journalists and novelists.
(c) Politicians and musicians.
(d) Philosophers and scholars.

3. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster say the contemporary world lacks?
(a) Moral judgement.
(b) Sources of information.
(c) Education.
(d) Critical thinking.

4. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," which writer does Foster credit with originating the essay?
(a) George Orwell.
(b) Michel de Montaigne.
(c) Virginia Woolf.
(d) Rene Descartes.

5. Using an argument like "Democrats just want to take your guns" in an address to a gun rights organization in a heavily Republican area would be an example of which flaw in argumentation?
(a) False analogy.
(b) Cherry-picking.
(c) Glibness.
(d) Preaching to the choir.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," what does Foster say that Wolff mostly wrote about before writing Fire and Fury?

2. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," what aspect of Renaissance scholarship does Foster say the essay rebels against?

3. In "Interrogating the Text," Foster says that he himself tends to "eschew" notes. He is saying what about his use of notes?

4. Based on Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what would Foster call a journalist writing a general survey of the field of string theory?

5. In Chapter 10, "From the Inside Out," why does Foster not capitalize the name of bell hooks?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Interrogating the Text," what does Foster say the purpose of interrogating text is?

2. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what does Foster say motivates antiscientific beliefs?

3. In Chapter 15, "Reading Internet Sources," what does Foster say is problematic about the internet and web?

4. In Chapter 14, "The Universe of Ideas/Ideas of the Universe," what are the three types of science writing that Foster describes, and what are the differences among them?

5. In Chapter 13, "On the Stump," what criticism does Foster level at Fox News?

6. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," what does Foster admire about the writing of John McPhee?

7. In Chapter 12, "That Is So Last Year," what change in "fashion" does Foster say that the publishing of history has followed in the past decades?

8. In Chapter 9, "Living the News," why does Foster say that Hunter S. Thomson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is really a roman à clef?

9. Explain why, in Chapter 11, "Life from the Inside," Foster says that the narrators of nonfiction can be just as unreliable as the narrators of fiction.

10. In Chapter 12, "That Is So Last Year," what difference does Foster explain between primary and secondary sources?

(see the answer keys)

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