Scribd
Upload
427 views

1) According To The Passage, The Nancy Drew Mystery Series Was Introduced in A. 1925 B. 1927 C. 1929

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book series were created through a process called ghostwriting. Edward Stratemeyer developed the initial ideas and outlines for the series, then hired ghostwriters to write drafts according to his guidelines. The first ghostwriters, Leslie McFarlane and Mildred Wirt, developed the characters and gave them personalities based on their own experiences. While the books were popular with children, some critics disapproved of their unrealistic plots and objected to the ghostwriting process, claiming it prioritized quantity over quality.

Uploaded by

Carolina Cecht
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
427 views

1) According To The Passage, The Nancy Drew Mystery Series Was Introduced in A. 1925 B. 1927 C. 1929

The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew book series were created through a process called ghostwriting. Edward Stratemeyer developed the initial ideas and outlines for the series, then hired ghostwriters to write drafts according to his guidelines. The first ghostwriters, Leslie McFarlane and Mildred Wirt, developed the characters and gave them personalities based on their own experiences. While the books were popular with children, some critics disapproved of their unrealistic plots and objected to the ghostwriting process, claiming it prioritized quantity over quality.

Uploaded by

Carolina Cecht
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

First introduced in 1927, The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories are a series of books about the adventures of

brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, teenaged detectives who solve one baffling mystery after another. The Hardy
Boys were so popular among young boys that in 1930 a similar series was created for girls featuring a sixteen-
year-old detective named Nancy Drew. The cover of each volume of The Hardy Boys states that the author of
the series is Franklin W. Dixon; the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories are supposedly written by Carolyn Keene.
Over the years, though, many fans of both series have been surprised to find out that Franklin W. Dixon and
Carolyn Keene are not real people. If Franklin W. Dixon and Carolyn Keene never existed, then who wrote The
Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries?

The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew books were written through a process called ghostwriting. A ghostwriter
writes a book according to a specific formula. While ghostwriters are paid for writing the books, their authorship
is not acknowledged, and their names do not appear on the published books. Ghostwriters can write books for
children or adults, the content of which is unspecific. Sometimes they work on book series with a lot of
individual titles, such as The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew series.

The initial idea for both The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew series was developed by a man named Edward
Stratemeyer, who owned a publishing company that specialized in children’s books. Stratemeyer noticed the
increasing popularity of mysteries among adults, and surmised that children would enjoy reading mysteries
about younger detectives with whom they could identify. Stratemeyer first developed each book with an outline
describing the plot and setting. Once he completed the outline, Stratemeyer then hired a ghostwriter to convert
it into a book of slightly over 200 pages. After the ghostwriter had written a draft of a book, he or she would
send it back to Stratemeyer, who would make a list of corrections and mail it back to the ghostwriter. The
ghostwriter would revise the book according to Stratemeyer’s instructions and then return it to him. Once
Stratemeyer approved the book, it was ready for publication.

Because each series ran for so many years, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys both had a number of different
ghostwriters producing books; however, the first ghostwriter for each series proved to be the most influential.
The initial ghostwriter for The Hardy Boys was a Canadian journalist named Leslie McFarlane. A few years
later, Mildred A. Wirt, a young writer from Iowa, began writing the Nancy Drew books. Although they were
using prepared outlines as guides, both McFarlane and Wirt developed the characters themselves. The
personalities of Frank and Joe Hardy and Nancy Drew arose directly from McFarlane’s and Wirt’s
imaginations. For example, Mildred Wirt had been a star college athlete and gave Nancy similar athletic
abilities. The ghostwriters were also responsible for numerous plot and setting details. Leslie McFarlane used
elements of his small Canadian town to create Bayport, the Hardy Boys’ fictional hometown.

Although The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books were very popular with children, not everyone approved of
them. Critics thought their plots were unrealistic and even far-fetched, since most teenagers did not experience
the adventures Frank and Joe Hardy or Nancy Drew did. The way the books were written also attracted
criticism. Many teachers and librarians objected to the ghostwriting process, claiming it was designed to
produce books quickly rather than create quality literature. Some libraries— including the New York Public
Library—even refused to include the books in their children’s collections. Ironically, this decision actually
helped sales of the books, because children simply purchased them when they were unavailable in local
libraries.

Regardless of the debates about their literary merit, each series of books has exerted an undeniable influence
on American and even global culture. Most Americans have never heard of Edward Stratemeyer, Leslie
McFarlane, or Mildred Wirt, but people throughout the world are familiar with Nancy Drew and Frank and Joe
Hardy.

1) According to the passage, the Nancy Drew mystery series was introduced in

A. 1925

B. 1927

C. 1929
D. 1930

2) Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. Ghostwriting: A Way of Life

B. Who Were Leslie McFarlane and Mildred A. Wirt?

C. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew: Ghostwriting a Series

D. The Dubious yet Profitable Practice of Ghostwriting

3) According to the passage, which of the following people was a real writer?

A. Carolyn Keene

B. Franklin W. Dixon

C. Leslie McFarlane

D. Tom Hardy

4) According to the passage, a ghostwriter is someone who

I. writes about mysterious or strange events

II. does not receive credit as the author

III. bases his or her books on predetermined guidelines

A. I only

B. I and II only

C. II and III only

D. I, II, and III

5) As used in paragraph 3, which is the best definition for surmised?

A. guessed

B. questioned

C. knew

D. proved

6) According to the passage, The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books were created based on the idea
that
I. mystery books for adults are popular

II. children enjoy reading about characters they can relate to

III. girls and boys are not interested in the same things

A. I only

B. I and II only

C. II and III only

D. I, II, and III

7) Based on information in the passage, it can be inferred that Leslie McFarlane and Mildred Wirt

A. disliked writing according to a specific formul

B. respected the art of ghostwriting

C. were unsuccessful in their previous occupations

D. found it helpful to write from personal experience

8) According to the passage, some teachers and librarians objected to ghostwritten books such as The
Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mystery Stories because they

A. disapproved of mystery stories

B. thought the books were too expensive

C. believed the books were not quality literature

D. disliked Edward Stratemeyer’s questionable business practices

You might also like