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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through On Living: A Postscript.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which speaker attributes does King find acceptable for the majority of dialogue?
(a) The basic 'he said', 'she said'.
(b) Clever ones that break up the monotony of the 'he said', 'she said' routine.
(c) Those which use active verbs.
(d) Whichever ones are necessary to convey the meaning of the scene.

2. What does the King brothers' newspaper contain?
(a) Stories about family members.
(b) Stories told to King about his family.
(c) Family and neighborhood news.
(d) Local gossip and family news.

3. What does King feel he will accomplish with his technique regarding description?
(a) He is leaving some things to the reader's imagination.
(b) He urges the writer to work more on his dialogues.
(c) He believes that a reader is unimpressed by description.
(d) He doesn not want the reader to become an active participant in the creative process.

4. There is an old adage in writing: write what you know. How does King feel about this?
(a) He believes that writers should follow this advice, but not in a literal way.
(b) He suggests writers research questions they are interested in and then write about them.
(c) He hopes that writers will experiment and not be limited by this statement.
(d) He urges writers to ignore this advice and write what they think is important and of value.

5. What is the name of the dog involved in King's accident?
(a) Blackie.
(b) Rex.
(c) Ringo.
(d) Bullet.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the chapter, C.V., King touches on the theme of the book. What is this theme?

2. According to King, which element of a novel is less important than aspiring writers might believe?

3. According to King, what is the second condition that, if readers cannot accept, should be a reason to stop reading his book?

4. What is the last thing on King's mind during the recovery period?

5. The image in the second chapter is King's way of demonstrating to the readers his idea of _____.

(see the answer key)

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