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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Sontag mentions many factors which influence the way audiences receive war photography. Which of the following was NOT one of those factors?
(a) Gender.
(b) Status.
(c) Culture.
(d) Age.

2. According to Sontag, why do images of atrocities fail to convey a singular, universal message?
(a) They require context and explanation.
(b) They are inappropriate for mass publication.
(c) They are too graphic.
(d) They inspire only disgust.

3. Sontag lists which of the following as images that the artist "makes"?
(a) Etchings and drawings.
(b) Photographs and etchings.
(c) Paintings and photographs.
(d) Drawings and paintings.

4. Sontag argues that technological advances changed the way the public understands war by:
(a) Improving the power and accuracy of weapons.
(b) Producing mass casualties and horrific destruction.
(c) Allowing journalists to represent the war in detail as it happens.
(d) Shielding the public from scenes of the wounded and dying.

5. Noting the long history of the "iconography of suffering," Sontag lists three types of art which depict incredible agony. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
(a) Images and scultpures of the Passion of Christ.
(b) The Pieta.
(c) The statue of Laocoon and his sons.
(d) Images of the martyrdom of the Christian saints.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which was the first war to be covered by television cameras?

2. Sontag notes that images of war most significantly influenced which of the following groups?

3. Sontag claims that images of suffering in Africa send a double message. Which of the following best represents that message?

4. Which of the following magazines was NOT devoted entirely to photography?

5. Photography on the war front was first banned in an organized fashion during which of the following wars?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Sontag, how are standards for journalism determined in an era of tele-controlled warfare?

2. Discuss one way in which the development of technology during and after the Vietnam War has affected the veracity of photographs.

3. Discuss the purpose of Virginia Woolf's "Three Guineas" as explained by Sontag, and explain why Sontag opens her book with this reference.

4. Explain the significance of Jacques Callot's 1633 series of etchings titled "Les Miseres et les Malheurs de la Guerra" (The Miseries and Misfortunes of War). Why did Sontag discuss this work?

5. Sontag stated that the photographer's intentions do not determine the message of the photograph. Discuss the contributing factors which influence the reception of photographs in the media.

6. Discuss the controversy surrounding the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002. What was the main conflict?

7. According to Sontag, do people prefer artistic renderings or straight-forward representations of atrocities? Why?

8. Discuss the significance of the Magnum Photo Agency, founded in Paris in 1947. What was the group initially founded to do? How did they influence the development of photojournalism?

9. Explain how being a "spectator of calamities" occurring in far-off places is a "quintessentially modern experience."

10. Sontag agrees with Woolf's assertion that the educated class has failed to understand war. How is this a failure of empathy or imagination?

(see the answer keys)

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