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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. How many letters of condolence does White receive after Katharine's passing?

2. What is the main reason why White is still at the New Yorker in 1956?

3. Where in Florida do the Whites travel to in 1963?

4. What reason does White give his agent for putting the book, Charlotte's Web, aside for a while?

5. When does White inform his publisher that he thinks "Charlotte's Web" appeals more to adults than children?

Short Essay Questions

1. In another letter to Stanley, what does White say about his use of traction?

2. Why does White write to Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith?

3. How does White categorize "Charlotte's Web" in his October, 1952 letter to Ursula Nordstrom of Harper & Brothers, and what are the sales like for the book's first edition?

4. What ailments does White have in 1963, and how does he write about his recovery?

5. How does White's response to Cathy Durham generate controversy, and what solution does his publisher implement?

6. How does White describe the beginning days of the New Yorker to an author that is researching a book?

7. What complications does White have with his vision in 1982, and how many years does he provide newsbreaks for the New Yorker before retiring?

8. Which ailment and animal's escapades does White write to his stepson and his wife about in 1968?

9. What question does Cathy Durham ask White, and how does he respond?

10. What does White reveal about his farm in his answer to the questions of Mrs. Bard's fifth-grade class in Larchmont, New York?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Katharine passes away and her legacy is secured as White contributes to his own biography towards the end of his life.

1) Describe the change in White's writing after Katharine passes away, how her literary effects help establish her legacy, and the way her book, "Onward and Upward in the Garden" is published.

2) Explain the contributions that White makes to his biography as it is being written and his opinion of the finished book.

3) Analyze the ways that E.B. White will be remembered along with the impact of his work in writing and entertainment.

Essay Topic 2

Describe White's trip to Washington, including the events that lead up to it, the reasons he is hired by the Department of Facts and Figures, the difference between his original responsibility with his eventual role in the pamphlet, and his opinions of the meetings and process there. Also, provide an analysis of White's views on the war and the draft that he discusses in the letters he writes when he returns from Washington.

Essay Topic 3

White's published criticism of Alexander Wollcott is documented by their letters in the New Yorker.

1) Describe who Alexander Wollcott is, the letter that he writes, and why White finds it offensive.

2) Explain White's response to Wollcott's letter and why it is featured in the New Yorker.

3) Analyze why White decides to write a second letter, the point of the letter, and whether or not he is serious in his criticism or using humor to deliver the point.

(see the answer keys)

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