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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does King discover horror stories?
(a) In the school library.
(b) At the newsstand.
(c) At his aunt and uncle's house.
(d) At the local theater.

2. What happened when Carrie sells to a paperback publisher?
(a) King receives $200,000 and his life changes forever.
(b) The paperback publisher rejects the initial version of the book and demanded revisions.
(c) The paperback publisher offers King an advance of $400,000.
(d) The book sells for $400,000, of which King received one third.

3. How does King describe the image discussed in chapter two?
(a) In great detail.
(b) With certain key details.
(c) With as little detail as possible.
(d) Without any details.

4. Where is the cloth mentioned in King's image located within the image?
(a) Draped over a chair.
(b) Under the cage.
(c) Beside the first object.
(d) Lying on the floor.

5. What does King suggest that readers who do not take writing seriously do?
(a) Read the book, but ignore the advice that conflicts with the reader's beliefs.
(b) Study the book more carefully.
(c) Ignore his advice completely.
(d) Stop reading the book.

Short Answer Questions

1. On one of their expeditions, King and his brother meet an unexpected enemy. What is this enemy?

2. King's early addiction soon added another one. What is it?

3. What is the unusual item attached to the animal?

4. What is one of King's last jobs before becoming a full-time writer?

5. Of the details King has supplied the reader regarding his image in the second chapter, what does King hope the reader will primarily focus on?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did King learn to edit his work? Why was this important to the young writer?

2. King opens the chapter, What Writing Is, with an image. What is the image and how is it described? In what ways is this image different from other images presented in books? What is King's motive in doing this? Do you think this is an effective way to allow the reader to see the scene? Why or why not?

3. Can you explain how King created the character of Carrie and why he disliked her so?

4. One of King's babysitters was particularly cruel. How might she have affected his later writings?

5. What are some of the aspects of writing that King is not going to emphasize in the chapter, What Writing Is?

6. What conclusions can you draw from King's comparison of writing as a career versus writing as a passion? Explain in your own words.

7. What are some of the things King remembers from his childhood? How might they have affected his writing?

8. What inferences can you make from King's statement that writing is magic? Explain in your own words.

9. In what way is the book, On Writing, to be different from King's usual work?

10. After Tabitha King's intervention in her husband's addictions, King insisted on moving his desk. How was this symbolically important to him?

(see the answer keys)

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