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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. A musician must practice scales, and a writer must practice ______________.

2. Does Zissner believe in the journalism model for good writing?

3. What is one task that a good writer constantly does?

4. How does a thesaurus help with brainstorming?

5. Who are two authors that Zissner admires for solid writing and ornamentation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is unity in writing?

2. Why does Zinsser advise against using exclamation points for astonishment?

3. Why does Zinsser avoid using journalism as a model for good writers?

4. Does Zinsser believe it is important for an author's personality to shine through his or her writing?

5. Why do writers have a hard time starting at the "true beginning?"

6. Writers are told to study the market before submitting pieces. Why is this advice irrelevant?

7. When is it acceptable for a new word to enter the English languages American Heritage Dictionary? Can you give an example?

8. What are Zinsser's thoughts on the writing profession?

9. What is the major problem with American writing in terms of simplicity?

10. What skills does an interviewer need to possess?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rewrite the following sentence into an ending sentence and the first sentence in the following paragraph: The car drove off the cliff. Make it compelling. Make the reader want to keep on reading.

Ex: Ending Sentence: The car sped off the cliff. First sentence next paragraph: They all survived.

Essay Topic 2

What are some industries that use corporate-speak or jargon in the majority of their writing? Why have these industries continued to use the same type of terrible writing? What can a person in the industry do to change this? Why would they be scared to change the status quo?

Essay Topic 3

Zinsser says that writers should write from their subconscious to let everything flow, then go back and hammer out all the gritty details. How often do you take this approach? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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