While many words could fit this fairly wide ranging sentence, some clues help find the best choice. "The songwriter" is analyzing "his favorite writers" to "write better lyrics." "Prosody," meaning the study and analysis of poetry, is the correct answer.

The book covers a wide range of topics because it possesses the missing word. The correct answer must reflect the many topics the book covers. "Discursiveness," meaning an unordered procession among topics, is the best fit.

Two things are known about the subject from the sentence: he has "newfound wealth" and he is working with "various artistic endeavors." "Patron," meaning a generous financial supporter, is the correct answer.

The sentence explicitly deals with television shows. Of all the answer choices, only "protagonist," meaning the main character in a work of fiction, relates in any way to the making or analysis of a television show.

"Decline" and "deterioration" would indicate that Mother Teresa was working towards impoverished peoples' lives getting worse, which does not make sense. "Conservation" and "preservation" could work as they would indicate that Mother Teresa was protecting impoverished people. "Amelioration", meaning betterment makes the most sense.

Ridding her son of his "extroversion" would indicate that the mother wants to make her son less outgoing by making him join a football team, which does not make sense. "Mettle" means vigor of spirit, which is an attribute that joining the football team could probably strengthen, so that also does not make sense. "Assertiveness", or self-assurance, would also probably be strengthened by joining the football team. "Fatuity" is absurdity, which has nothing to do with constraint. "Diffidence", which means shyness, does make sense though.

"Loquacity," "exuberance," and "rambunctiousness" are all characteristics of loud people. "Intractability" would be used to describe someone stubborn, so that also does not make sense. "Docility," meaning yielding to authority, does make sense though.

"Probability," meaning likelihood, and "implausibility," meaning unlikelihood, do not make sense because the woes have already befallen the person's grandmother, so we would not be talking about them as uncertain events. "Dearth" and "scarcity" both mean lack of, which also does not make sense because the grandmother would not be complaining that she had not faced enough unfortunate events. "Plethora," meaning a lot of, makes much more sense. 

The daughter wishes to "spite" her mother because of her mother's feeling about "her new friends." Since she spites her mother by seeing them more, her mother must dislike her friends. "Disapprobation," meaning disapproval or condemnation, is the correct answer.

As his competitors would "never think of it," hiring art students is something peculiar and interesting for the subject of the sentence. The correct answer should mean a particular fondness for or inclination toward, the definition of "bent," when used as a noun.