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

2. The section of this book called "The Books in the Book" is what part of the book?

3. In Chapter 1, "The Structure of Nonfiction Information," what does Foster say is the purpose of the "four Ps?"

4. The section of this book called "What's Going on Around Here?" is what part of the book?

5. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," Foster makes the point that during the Nassar scandal, the Lansing State Journal did what?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. In Chapter 3, "The Power of the Prologue," Foster explains the origin of the prologue. What is its origin and how is that origin reflected in today's prologues?

3. In Chapter 7, "All in How You Look at Things," what does Foster compare to "wrestl[ing] an octopus," (81), and why does he make this comparison?

4. In Chapter 8, "Bringing the News," what does Foster seem to admire about the Lansing State Journal's coverage of the Nassar scandal?

5. On page 21 of Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster says, of Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, "This is First Contact with Aliens." What does Foster mean by this, and how do we know?

6. 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?

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

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

9. 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"?

10. In Chapter 6, "Source Code," what does Foster say that "expertise" is and is not?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Chapter 4, "The Parts You Don't Read," Foster says that titles are important guideposts to meaning. Evaluate the effectiveness of the chapter titles that Foster has chosen for this book.

Essay Topic 2

In Chapter 2, "The Ecology of the Nonfiction Biosphere," Foster makes a number of claims about the importance of newspapers. Do you agree, disagree, or agree with qualifications?

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 6, "Source Code," Foster suggests that as microfiche research is time-consuming and frustrating, writers should use secondary sources such as biographies. Offer an evaluation of this argument. Be sure to consider the assumptions Foster is making about both primary and secondary sources and the applicability of his suggestion to nonfiction in fields outside of history--such as science, sociology, the arts, politics, and so on.

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