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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a good way to edit a long story?
(a) Have someone else read it aloud.
(b) Take a break and read it with fresh eyes.
(c) Read it backwards.
(d) Break it into sections to make it more manageable.

2. Why do criticism writers have to be at a higher level than other writers?
(a) Criticism writers are no different. They still need to use the same basic rules of writing.
(b) Criticism need to be stronger at literary elements because they need to recreate a scene or a song in the imagination of their readers with words only.
(c) Criticism is harder to write about because it tends to be less attractive than other writing.
(d) Only those able to understand the arts can write about them, and very little people can.

3. What is the problem with freelance writers and editors today?
(a) Editors are not as good as writers.
(b) Writers are pushovers and let their work become ruined.
(c) Editors treat freelance writers like hired help.
(d) Writers never listen to their editors.

4. What is a general rule for writing about sports?
(a) Using industry standards instead of creative terms when referencing sports topics.
(b) Writing only about one sports.
(c) Being as creative as possible to retain readership.
(d) Overeducating the reader about sports facts.

5. Where does a writer need to start to get his or her voice discovered?
(a) Read stories aloud at poetry clubs or book clubs.
(b) Sign up for a talent search.
(c) Go to a literary agent and ask how to get their voice out.
(d) A writer needs to emulate other writers and see how they utlilize their voices in their writing.

6. What does Zinsser think about writing memoirs?
(a) He thinks memoirs are tacky writers.
(b) He encourages them and wants writers to stop being afraid about writing about themselves.
(c) He likes memoirs and reads them constantly.
(d) He is against memoirs and thinks writers should never write about themselves.

7. What approach to a place should writers take?
(a) Reading other travel pieces and compare them.
(b) Just writing ambiguously.
(c) To go within a place and see how it impacts the writer.
(d) To go around asking the locals questions.

8. What is a second approach Zinsser recommends that complements the first approach mentioned?
(a) Going within people's homes and seeing what they feel about foreigners.
(b) Never reading other travel pieces, because this adds to cliched writing.
(c) Going outside and finding out how a place impacts others.
(d) Writing only in the first person, then deciding on a tense later.

9. What is the best way to learn to write with humor?
(a) Go to comedy shows.
(b) Practice saying funny things aloud to friends and family.
(c) Hang out with funny people.
(d) Read other humorous writing and emulate those styles.

10. What did his parents teach him that made him a fantastic writer?
(a) His mother was a writer and went to career day at his school.
(b) His mother taught him to spell, and his father taught him to write.
(c) HIs father took him to a field trip to a newspaper office.
(d) His mother instilled in him a love and respect for good writing, and his father taught him to have a strong work ethic.

11. What do writers focus on most?
(a) Their audience.
(b) The final product.
(c) The writing process.
(d) Their editors.

12. What does the process of memoir writing do for a writer?
(a) It forces them to talk to distant relatives they hate.
(b) Nothing but write about everything he or she thinks about daily.
(c) It brings back bad memories that the person tried to forget.
(d) It brings up related memories that were pushed into the subconsious.

13. Why do structured classes miss the point of teaching good writing?
(a) They focus more on talent and less on grades.
(b) They focus more on the final product than the writing process.
(c) They focus more on the writing process than the final product.
(d) They focus less on talent and more on getting good grades.

14. What is an example of American television shows that use humor to talk about serious issues?
(a) The Today Show.
(b) The Evening News.
(c) Saturday Night Live.
(d) The View.

15. Why doesn't Zinsser teach people how to get published?
(a) He does not want any competition.
(b) Because he doesn't know how to get people published.
(c) He wants people to learn that themselves as part of a growing experience.
(d) Because he doesn't really know what editors want.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the fear cause writers to do?

2. Do writers need to write all the time?

3. Writers should always look for ________________.

4. Why is jargon, or corporate speak, so prevalent in business writing?

5. Where is there an opportunity for great creative writing?

(see the answer keys)

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