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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. Where does King discover horror stories?

2. How does King obtain money from his classmates?

3. What is the first object described in the image in the second chapter?

4. What kind of stories does King particularly enjoy?

5. How does his writing help King financially?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. As a child, King had many chronic ear and throat infections. How might these illnesses lead King to writing?

6. In what way is the chapter, What Writing Is, different from the usual book on writing?

7. Why does King want his readers to put his book down if they are unable to accept that writing is magic?

8. Why does King write? Explain in your own words based on the chapters, C.V., and What Writing Is.

9. When King asks the writer to accept 'the magic of writing, but to take it seriously', what is he saying?

10. How did King begin his career as a writer?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

King claims all writers need a 'toolbox'. Why is a toolbox important for a writer? What should the toolbox contain? How can a writer improve his toolbox according to King? Use specific answers from the book to explain your answer.

Essay Topic 2

King mentions many elements as being important to good writing: limiting the use of adverbs, writing in the active voice instead of the passive voice, the use of speaker attributes other than said, and paragraph length. How would you prioritize these elements and why?

Essay Topic 3

How is writing as a passion different from writing as a career? What ideas in this text justify King's statement?

(see the answer keys)

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