We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more

Higher Education

Writing by Choice - Student Quiz - Part 1

Instructions: Click on the radio button beside your answers below. When you've completed the entire quiz click the 'Submit my answers' button for your results.

Question 1:


a) So you can consider what model is best for the specific writing situation in front of you.
b) So you can experiment with different models to see which works best.
c) So you can develop as a writer by becoming more self-conscious of your writing process.
d) All of the above.

Question 2:


a) They can involve a lot of planning.
b) They can be written quickly and without much thought.
c) They can be used to explore a topic.

Question 3:


a) It can involve a lot of planning.
b) It can involve some planning, but structure is determined as you write.
c) It does not involve planning but can be used to explore a topic.

Question 4:


a) A word's dictionary meaning.
b) A word's meaning derived by looking at its context and its suggested meaning.
c) What the evidence points to, or a type of conclusion.

Question 5:


a) That a critical analysis always involves making negative judgements about a text.
b) That a critical analysis usually, but not always, implies a negative judgment about a text.
c) That a critical analysis involves the impartial weighing of an author's statements.
d) That in a critical analysis you accept an author's statements as valid unless overwhelming evidence suggests otherwise.

Question 6:


a) Reading to comprehend clarity.
b) Reading to examine the validity of the author's statements.
c) Reading to analyze (break down) the author's techniques, strategies and/or style.
d) All of the above can be involved.

Question 7:


a) Selective reading.
b) Focussed reading.
c) Diffuse reading.
d) All of the above.

Question 8:


a) Because it will enable you to develop a reading plan.
b) Because it will give background information, such as when the essay was written and who published it.
c) Because it will enable you to determine whether the author can be considered credible.
d) Because it will give you a general idea of what has been written on the topic.

Question 9:


a) To stimulate interest in the work.
b) To provide general information about the topic.
c) To provide information about the writer's general approach.
d) To provide specific information about content.

Question 10:


a) Determinging language level, structure, and main points.
b) Assessing specific rhetorical strategies used by the writer.
c) Determining when the work was written and for whom.
d) Determining the effectiveness of the writer's evidence as it is used to support the thesis.

Question 11:


a) It enables you to engage directly with the text.
b) It enables you to highlight specific parts of the text that are directly relevant to your reading purpose.
c) It enables you to quickly identify specific passages when you read the text later.
d) All of the above.

Question 12:


a) The writer has adopted strategies that make the text easy to follow.
b) The writer has simplified all content so that anyone can understand it.
c) The writer has tried to challenge a typical reader in order to get him or her to think critically about the material.
d) The writer has expressed his/her opinions strongly and unambiguously on the subject being discussed.

Question 13:


a) It could help determine the kinds of information you include in the body of the essay.
b) It could help determine what kind of introduction you will use.
c) It could help determine what writing strategies you use to write the essay.
d) It could help determine any of the above.

Question 14:


a) Tactfully avoid all areas of disagreement in the hopes that your reader will not be reminded of them.
b) Try to find out as much as possible about your reader and his or her point of view before formulating an argumentative strategy.
c) Express your opinion in the most forceful way possible in the hopes of overwhelming your reader.
d) Pretend to agree with your reader while carefully undermining his or her point of view.

Question 15:


a) May depend on the kind of essay you will be writing.
b) May depend on your own pre-writing preferences.
c) May depend on both of the above factors.
d) Will always depend on the topic itself.

Question 16:


a) Write quickly but always keep your topic in focus.
b) Write quickly and without self-censure.
c) Write quickly but pay particular attention to word choice and clear expression.
d) All of the above.

Question 17:


a) When you begin thinking about the order of your points.
b) When you have determined your main points but before you have determined your subpoints.
c) When you are confident that you have included everything you want to say in your essay.
d) Outlines can be constructed at any time as you begin to consider your essay's structure.

Question 18:


a) Use it as you would a compass that will give you a general direction to go in.
b) Use it as you would a map that will get you to a known destination by a specific route.
c) Use it as you would a set of blueprints that shows your essay's intended design, but be prepared to modify parts of it if necassary.

Question 19:


a) It tends to be undervalued by students and other non-professionals.
b) It tends to be undervalued by professional and non-professional writers alike.
c) It tends to be overvalued by students and other non-professionals.
d) It tends to be overvalued by professional and non-professional writers alike.

Question 20:


a) Allow enough time to check for typos and other errors.
b) Allow enough time for an objective second party to check for typos and other errors.
c) Allow enough time to check for typos and other errors yourself and, ideally, for an objective second party to do the same.
d) Allow enough time to re-consider purpose, audience, and structure, ensuring clarity of meaning, correctness of grammar, and placement of emphasis; then, check for typos and other errors.

Question 21:


a) In exposition, you take one side of an issue and defend it.
b) In exposition, you consider fact-based evidence to arrive at a conclusion.
c) There is always a clear line between exposition and argument.
d) There is never a clear line between exposition and argument.

Question 22:


a) The reader has had a same or a similar experience as that of the writer.
b) The writer writes about something most readers are unfamiliar with and are therefore likely to be intrigued by.
c) The writer's experience is made relevant to the reader's experience.

Question 23:


a) Recall.
b) Organization/time-management skills.
c) Recall and organization/time-management skills.
d) The above skills and others.

Question 24:


a) Not reading the instructions carefully enough.
b) Not allotting sufficient time for each question or for each stage in the writing process.
c) Not being specific enough in responding to the question or addressing the topic.
d) All of the above are common problems with in-class writing.

Question 25:


a) Write only on what you know.
b) Be specific wherever possible and use examples to support your points.
c) Read between the lines to determine what the instructor is really asking you.
d) Write as much as you can in order to show the marker that you have an endless flow of ideas about the topic.