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Upper Primary School English Quiz - Writing 08 - Write a Story (Questions)

How do we go about writing a good story? All of us, during our childhood, must have listened to our mothers and grandmothers telling us stories. We have also learnt about stories in our Upper Primary English classes. Stories are as old as humanity and in the early years stories were told orally and passed on down the generations, which is still followed by our mothers and grandmothers today.

Stories are basically instruments through which we can inform people about certain things such as morals and good habits. Through telling stories we can persuade people to follow a certain path. With our writing we can also entertain people. Again, through stories we can educate people just as our teachers do in school.

[readmore]Stories are so powerful that a difficult concept which runs into pages can be explained by a simple story told in a commonsensical way that is easily understood by the reader or listener - and what is more the reader or listener retains the concept much better when told in the form of a story.

Just as in any creative activity, stories can be written by almost anyone with a certain amount of imagination and felicity with words. A good story can be in the form of fairytales with an underlying message, or they may depict history. Good stories can be about people, places, events, incidents and animals or imaginary people or even aliens!

The nature of story telling has remained the same for many centuries, whereas the medium through which stories are told has changed and newer methods of conveying the same have been added. In the earlier times stories were oral and when printing became the byword written stories took over. With the advent of the radio and other electronic media stories took on a new avatar and spread their wings to people who could not read or write. The Internet, with its power, is adding a new dimension to storytelling.

Anyone can write a story but it is good to learn some basics of story writing and by taking the quiz that follows you can learn a few tricks that would help you to write a good story.
1. Writing fiction is a part of story writing. Choose the types of fiction from the following.
[ ] Mysteries and thrillers.
[ ] Horror and romance.
[ ] Science fiction and humour.
[ ] All of the above.
2. Which statement is true?
[ ] Stories can be based on real people.
[ ] Stories cannot be based on real people.
[ ] Stories cannot be based on animals.
[ ] Stories cannot be based on imaginary people.
3. In what person can stories be written?
[ ] In first person only.
[ ] In second person only.
[ ] In third person only.
[ ] In first, second or third person.
4. Why should a protagonist be there in a story?
[ ] Because the writer wants it.
[ ] Because the printer wants it.
[ ] Because the story is told through him.
[ ] Because the publisher wants it.
5. Which is not part of a good story?
[ ] Describing what happens to characters.
[ ] Inspiration from real life people.
[ ] Collection of ideas.
[ ] Using long descriptive words.
6. How can you be a good story writer?
[ ] By reading books voraciously.
[ ] By letting somebody other than you to write for you.
[ ] By copying another writer's ideas and stories.
[ ] By developing good handwriting skills.
7. A good story could have a villain because...
[ ] the publisher wants it.
[ ] the villain is mandatory.
[ ] the villain is contrasted against the protagonist.
[ ] the printer wants it.
8. A good story should...
[ ] keep up the suspense.
[ ] have good dialogues.
[ ] have well defined characters.
[ ] All of the above.
9. If you are not planning a sequel, at the end of a story what should you do?
[ ] Leave your readers guessing what happens to your characters.
[ ] Make sure the story gets more interesting.
[ ] Let all the characters die.
[ ] Tell readers what happens to the characters.
10. Which of the following plays a supporting role in a story?
[ ] A comedian as a character.
[ ] Appropriate settings for the story.
[ ] Action parts.
[ ] All of the above.
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Upper Primary School English Quiz - Writing 08 - Write a Story (Answers)
1. Writing fiction is a part of story writing. Choose the types of fiction from the following.
[ ] Mysteries and thrillers.
[ ] Horror and romance.
[ ] Science fiction and humour.
[x] All of the above.
Fiction writing can have all the types mentioned in the options. Different readers are enthused by different types of writing
2. Which statement is true?
[x] Stories can be based on real people.
[ ] Stories cannot be based on real people.
[ ] Stories cannot be based on animals.
[ ] Stories cannot be based on imaginary people.
Stories can be based on any subject. There is no limitation on the types of stories one can write!
3. In what person can stories be written?
[ ] In first person only.
[ ] In second person only.
[ ] In third person only.
[x] In first, second or third person.
Stories can be written in any person. For fictional stories writing in first person is preferred
4. Why should a protagonist be there in a story?
[ ] Because the writer wants it.
[ ] Because the printer wants it.
[x] Because the story is told through him.
[ ] Because the publisher wants it.
A story is told through a protagonist and the reader gets into the character of the protagonist and is able to relate to the story much better
5. Which is not part of a good story?
[ ] Describing what happens to characters.
[ ] Inspiration from real life people.
[ ] Collection of ideas.
[x] Using long descriptive words.
A good story is brought about by sifting through many ideas or basing it on real life characters. A good story keeps the interest level high by describing what the characters go through. A story should be told in simple English understood by a vast majority of readers and hence long descriptive words should be avoided
6. How can you be a good story writer?
[x] By reading books voraciously.
[ ] By letting somebody other than you to write for you.
[ ] By copying another writer's ideas and stories.
[ ] By developing good handwriting skills.
A good writer would read all types of books which would help him to decide for himself what kind of stories he would be able to write. Plagiarism (copying others) is illegal and ghost writing (getting others to write for you) is shunned by readers. In today's digital world, good handwriting is not a prerequisite for writing a good story
7. A good story could have a villain because...
[ ] the publisher wants it.
[ ] the villain is mandatory.
[x] the villain is contrasted against the protagonist.
[ ] the printer wants it.
A villain is a good character to have in a story to contrast against the protagonist to depict the protagonist in a better light
8. A good story should...
[ ] keep up the suspense.
[ ] have good dialogues.
[ ] have well defined characters.
[x] All of the above.
The purpose of a story is to send out a message and the message can be put across well if the story has well defined characters, good dialogues and the right amount of suspense to keep the reader interested till the end
9. If you are not planning a sequel, at the end of a story what should you do?
[ ] Leave your readers guessing what happens to your characters.
[ ] Make sure the story gets more interesting.
[ ] Let all the characters die.
[x] Tell readers what happens to the characters.
If you are not writing a sequel then the reader expects you to give finality to the characters and to the story. It is not necessary that all characters have to die if you are not writing a sequel. A story can have a good ending where all characters live happily ever after
10. Which of the following plays a supporting role in a story?
[ ] A comedian as a character.
[ ] Appropriate settings for the story.
[ ] Action parts.
[x] All of the above.
A good story will have many supporting roles that include other characters such as comedians or relatives, friends or even pets of the protagonist. Appropriate settings and vividly described action parts also play a good supporting role in a story