Question 1

The British newspaper The Guardian surveyed a number of writers in 2010 and published various tips they sent along. Which tip below best reflects the main theme of this week’s materials?

“Unless you are writing something very avant-garde – all gnarled, snarled and ‘obscure’ – be alert for possibilities of paragraphing.” —Joyce Carol Oates

“Decide when in the day (or night) it best suits you to write, and organize your life accordingly.” —Andrew Motion

"Develop craftsmanship through years of wide reading." —Annie Proulx

“If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just sit there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people's words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.” —Hilary Mantel

Question 2

Which writer, in an interview with The Paris Review in 1958, endorsed the idea of stopping a writing session before you run out of things to say so that you’ll have some built-in momentum the next day?

Question 3

True or False: The idea that you can’t start a sentence with “And” or “But” is a myth.

Question 4

Complete the sentence below. It was used as an epigraph in this week’s main reading assignment.

“There is a style of __________ as well as a style of sentence structure.” —Edward P. J. Corbett, Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student (1965)

Question 5

Which one of the sentences below includes the move featured in the “Notes on Nuance” segment this week?

“Pullman did not make things easy for Carnegie. A self-made businessman brimming with aggressive, almost ruthless self-confidence, he shared too much in common with Carnegie not to be wary of his advances.” —David Nasaw, Andrew Carnegie (2006)

“Back then, the Unwomen were always wasting time. They were encouraged to do it. The government gave them money to do that very thing.” — Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale (1985)

“Fluency in the work of both Eddie Van Halen and Ludwig van Beethoven helped [Raman] Djawadi develop a sound that is at once complex and crowd-pleasing.” —Spencer Kornhaber, “ Game of Thrones Turns Its Composer Into a Rock Star” (2019)

“To be sure, Jefferson was a sincere aficionado of all things Gallic, from French Cooking to Parisian architecture to revolutionary politics.” —Joseph Ellis, American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic (2007)

Question 6

The “Paragraphing” essay includes some observations from Steven Pinker, the author of The Sense of Style . Which answer below best represents Pinker’s view?

Question 7

What was the three-word sentence that Paul Reingold and Charles Levin decided to use as the first sentence in a new paragraph in the legal brief described in the “Paragraphing” essay?

Question 8

The “Paragraphing” essay identified three things to want from paragraphs. Which of the answers below was not included?

Question 9

True or False : Benjamin Dreyer, the copyeditor mentioned in the "Punctuation and Professionalism" segment, takes the position that “Two sentences in a single paragraph beginning with the same introductory term, especially ‘But,’ are usually one sentence too many.”

Question 10

Here is an excerpt from the “Paragraphing” essay:

“Good paragraphers, for example, help readers. They make it easy to navigate and absorb information. They don’t flit around, hastily moving on to the next point before fully supporting their first. Nor do they get stuck for too long in one place. Instead, they give a lot of thought not just to the ideas but also to their _______—their shape, their balance, their pace.”

Fill in the blank