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WorksheetsUnderstanding Genre and Medium in Texts
Total questions: 70
Worksheet time: 35mins
Which of the following best explains the term “genre” as used in the passage?
The place where a text is printed
A pattern or set of rules a text follows to communicate effectively
The author’s personal opinion about a topic
The tone of voice a writer uses
What is the first step to enjoying the benefit of genre awareness as a reader?
Learning to recognize that virtually everything you read follows some genre
Reading everything without thinking about its form
Memorizing every possible sub-genre name
Ignoring the author’s purpose
According to the passage, why is it important to know the genre of something you’re reading?
Because the genre tells you the price of the book
Because genres tell you the author’s age
Because your approach changes depending on the genre
Because every genre uses the same style and structure
Which of the following is an example of medium rather than message?
The text of a speech
The jokes in a comedy routine
A television broadcast as a means of delivering content
The thesis statement of an essay
When summarizing a passage, what must you do first according to the text?Change the author’s meaning to match your opinion
Change the author’s meaning to match your opinion
Recognize and understand the text’s main idea
Copy large quotations directly
Ignore context like who wrote it or when
Which statement below correctly distinguishes summary from analysis?
Summaries and analyses both evaluate the text in the same way
Summaries provide the main ideas, while analyses interpret and evaluate them
Analyses copy the text verbatim, summaries paraphrase
Analyses always avoid making judgments
What is the origin of the word “analysis” given in the text?
Latin “analyses,” meaning “break apart”
Greek “analysis,” meaning “loosen up”
Old French “analysier,” meaning “evaluate”
German “analisieren,” meaning “separate”
According to the passage, which of the following is a strategy for close reading?
Annotating your experience while reading
Skipping unfamiliar words
Writing your thesis before reading
Only reading the conclusion of the text
When practicing critical analysis, which level of attention is recommended?
Focus only on whole chapters
Be granular—look at the level of words and patterns
Pay attention only to punctuation
Skip over repeated ideas
Which of the following is NOT listed as a helpful way to approach a scientific paper in the passage?
Reading the sections in a different order than presented
Taking notes
Looking up related papers
Only reading the references and ignoring the text
Each of the following pairs represent different genres EXCEPT:
A blog post; a novel
A textbook for Biology 101; a textbook for History 101
A biography; a mystery novel
. A grocery list; a scholarly article
The statement, “Because I could not stop for Death / He kindly stopped for me” would most likely appear in which genre?
Journalism
Literature
Technical writing
Reference work
During a job interview, Guillermo is asked what medium he'd use to tell his life story. What could he answer?
A record album, since he likes to combine ideas the way a DJ mixes music
A telephone call to each friend individually
A math textbook
A newspaper obituary
Which of the following best explains the term “genre” as used in the passage?
The place where a text is printed
A pattern or set of rules a text follows to communicate effectively
The author’s personal opinion about a topic
The tone of voice a writer uses
What is the first step to enjoying the benefit of genre awareness as a reader?
Learning to recognize that virtually everything you read follows some genre
Reading everything without thinking about its form
Memorizing every possible sub-genre name
Ignoring the author’s purpose
According to the passage, why is it important to know the genre of something you’re reading?
Because the genre tells you the price of the book
Because genres tell you the author’s age
Because your approach changes depending on the genre
Because every genre uses the same style and structure
Which of the following is an example of medium rather than message?
The text of a speech
The jokes in a comedy routine
A television broadcast as a means of delivering content
The thesis statement of an essay
When summarizing a passage, what must you do first, according to the text?
Change the author’s meaning to match your opinion
Recognize and understand the text’s main idea
Copy large quotations directly
Ignore context like who wrote it or when
Which statement below correctly distinguishes summary from analysis?
Summaries and analyses both evaluate the text in the same way
Summaries provide the main ideas, while analyses interpret and evaluate them
Analyses copy the text verbatim, summaries paraphrase
Analyses always avoid making judgments
What is the origin of the word “analysis” given in the text?
Latin “analysus,” meaning “break apart”
Greek “analusis,” meaning “loosen up”
Old French “analysier,” meaning “evaluate”
German “analisieren,” meaning “separate”
Which of the following is a strategy for close reading?
Annotating your experience while reading
Skipping unfamiliar words
Writing your thesis before reading
When practicing critical analysis, which level of attention is recommended?
Focus only on whole chapters
Be granular—look at the level of words and patterns
Pay attention only to punctuation
Which of the following is NOT listed as a helpful way to approach a scientific paper in the passage?
Reading the sections in a different order than presented
Taking notes
Only reading the references and ignoring the text
According to the text, rhetorical analysis is most similar to:
A list of facts
Inquiry; a set of questions you might ask about a text
Memorizing dates
Close reading is compared to what activity in the passage?
Running a marathon
An archaeological dig
Planting a garden
According to the passage, which of the following best describes the purpose of a biography?
To teach readers about scientific principles
To tell someone’s life story
To persuade someone to change jobs
Which of the following genres would you most likely encounter in a college setting, according to the text?
Comic books and screenplays
Textbooks, scholarly articles, reference works, journalism, and literature
Greeting cards and song lyrics
The phrase “the medium is the message” was coined by which theorist?
Henry David Thoreau
Marshall McLuhan
Emily Dickinson
In the passage about the medium, what is emphasized as being more important than the content itself?
The author’s biography
The medium or means by which the information is communicated
The reader’s personal opinion
When you summarize, which of the following is recommended?
Use your own words to condense the text while preserving its original meaning
Change the meaning to fit your thesis
Quote extensively without context
According to the example from Thoreau’s Walden, what does excessive labor do to people?
It makes them more creative and free
It desensitizes them and robs them of intellectual growth
It guarantees their financial success
One advantage of the sample summary of Thoreau’s passage given in the text is that it:
Uses extensive quotations
Contextualizes who said it, when, and where
Ignores the author’s name
According to the guidelines, which of the following should you avoid when writing a summary?
Tailoring the summary to your purpose
Using “point-by-point” summaries with “First, Second, Third”
Understanding the author’s main ideas
What is one reason you need a strong understanding of what the author is trying to communicate before summarizing?
So you can make up your own examples
So you don’t confuse your reader and stay true to the original ideas
So you can avoid citing your sources
According to the passage, signal phrases such as “Austen writes” or “I argue” are used to:
Make a text longer
Clarify whose ideas are being presented
Hide plagiarism
The passage defines analysis as:
Copying the main points of a text
Listing facts without interpretation
Methodically breaking something down to gain a better understanding of it
In an art appreciation class, which of the following might you be asked to analyze in addition to subject and symbolism?
The artist’s favorite food
The use of shape, space, color, and texture (form)
The price of the painting
Which of the following is NOT listed as one of the essential skills of analysis?
Breaking down information into component parts
Determining motives and causes
Memorizing the author’s biography
What is the main difference between rhetorical and critical analysis noted in the text?
Rhetorical analysis emphasizes author, context, and reader, while critical analysis starts from the text’s elements
Rhetorical analysis ignores audience
They are completely unrelated
Close reading, as described in the passage, focuses on:
Reading as fast as possible
Significant details or patterns in a text
Writing your thesis before reading
According to the passage, what is your greatest asset at the beginning of a close reading?
Time
A dictionary
Highlighters
When starting an analysis, what does the passage say you should resist doing right away?
Annotating the text
Jumping immediately to your thesis
Looking for patterns
Which of the following is listed as a key step for examining a text closely?
Annotate your experience
Skip words you don’t know
Highlight entire chapters
What tool does the passage recommend for annotating online texts?
During your first reading of a text, you should look for:
Elements that jump out as interesting or puzzling
Only the author’s name
Every single adjective
What does the passage suggest you do with new words you encounter in a text?
Ignore them if they’re difficult
Assume they’re unimportant
Look up their definitions
According to the passage, being granular in reading critically means:
Focusing on the level of words, repetitions, and patterns
Summarizing whole pages at once
Only reading the abstract
If you notice repeated synonyms or thematic terms in a text, what does the passage say this probably indicates?
A translation error
The author is unfocused
The author is focusing on a specific idea or argument
Which of the following is an example of a contrast that might hint at a larger argument?
“Infantilize” and later “adult”
“Tree” and “forest”
“Fast” and “speedy”
According to the passage, which strategy would work well for a critical analysis of a text?
A close reading
Skimming only headlines
Counting the number of pages
As you practice critical reading, your skill at it will:
Get harder over time
Stay the same
Become easier with more practice
What does active reading require, according to the passage?
Focus, effort, looking up words, and taking notes
Reading as quickly as possible
Avoiding rereading complicated sentences
Which of the following is listed as a strategy for reading scholarly articles?
Skimming and scanning, questioning and annotating, reading the abstract
Reading only the introduction
Ignoring the references
What format is named in the passage as helpful to be familiar with for approaching a scientific essay?
MLA
IMRaD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion)
APA
According to the passage, technical documents generally refer to papers that fall into which categories?
Fiction and poetry
Scientific or mathematical categories such as lab reports or product proposalsPolitical speeches and advertisements
According to the passage, what is technical writing primarily designed to do?
Entertain a general audience
Present or communicate complex information in a clear, easy-to-understand manner
Persuade people to buy a product
Which of the following is listed as a type of technical writing in the passage?
A lab report
A poem
A fictional short story
What is the main goal of technical writers according to the passage?
Impress readers with advanced vocabulary
Communicate specialized information clearly
Critique other authors’ work
Technical writing is often associated with which fields?
Cooking and fashion
Scientific, mathematical, and technical fields
Music and art history
Which of the following is NOT an example of a technical document listed in the passage?
Product proposals
Novels
Lab reports
What is the recommended approach when reading technical documents according to the passage?
Read the sections in the order presented only
Read and re-read, take notes, and look up related papers
Skip the methods section entirely
According to the passage, what should you do after reading the abstract of a scientific paper?
Stop reading because you’ve learned enough
Look for the author’s hobbies
. Use the abstract to decide which sections to read more deeply
Which of the following is emphasized as a skill for academic success in the passage?
Memorizing author biographies
Summarizing, analyzing, and evaluating texts
Copying long quotations
When reading difficult material, the passage suggests:
Skipping words and sections
Slowing down and re-reading complicated sentences
Only reading the conclusion
Which of the following is described as an essential part of evaluating a text?
Understanding its genre, medium, and purpose
Checking its price and publisher
Counting its number of pages
The passage notes that writing in college often means:
Copying the professor’s lecture
Reading, responding to, and analyzing other people’s texts
Writing only about your personal experiences
Which of the following is one benefit of practicing close and critical reading?
It helps you automatically memorize entire passages
It helps you better understand, summarize, and evaluate texts
It makes reading unnecessary
What does the passage say about using your own words when summarizing?
You should condense the text and use your own words while keeping the original meaning
You should rewrite it completely differently
You should copy phrases verbatim
In analyzing a visual artwork, what other element besides symbolism might be considered?
The gallery’s floor plan
The use of shape, space, color, and texture
The artist’s favorite food
Overall, the passage emphasizes that success in academic reading and writing comes from:
Knowing every possible sub-genre by heart
Developing skills in genre awareness, summarizing, analyzing, and critical reading
Reading as quickly as possible without notes
