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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who sees through appearances and trends to seize life and speak truth?
(a) The philosopher.
(b) The poet.
(c) The academic.
(d) The artist.

2. Why does Emerson say every man is not duplicitous for not only being partialist?
(a) Emerson says men are duplicitous.
(b) He can move between viewpoints, but is not both simultaneously.
(c) It is simply the way the human mind works.
(d) He really is only a partialist, except when in conversation with other philosophers.

3. In what year was Plato born?
(a) 427 B.C.
(b) 427 A.D.
(c) 431 A.D.
(d) 431 B.C.

4. Which of the following is the best and most efficient type of economy for man, according to Emerson?
(a) Private enterprise.
(b) Enlightened socialism.
(c) Democratic republic.
(d) Public bureaucracy.

5. According to Emerson, what do realists have on their side?
(a) Heart.
(b) Reason.
(c) Emotion.
(d) Faith.

6. What is the function of art, according to Emerson?
(a) To raise controversies.
(b) To prompt discussions about art.
(c) To reveal inner thoughts of the artist.
(d) To open our eyes.

7. What does true friendship require, according to Emerson?
(a) Cordial goodwill.
(b) Friendly love.
(c) Conversation.
(d) Humility.

8. The power of ______ lies in their ability to awaken us to the universal and timeless laws of man and nature.
(a) Scholars.
(b) Philosophers.
(c) Historians.
(d) The arts.

9. How is the soul different from the physical body, according to Emerson?
(a) It can fall prey to temptations of the heart, while the human heart can be steeled against pain.
(b) It must conform to the laws of God.
(c) It is lighter than the physical body.
(d) It is not bounded by time or space.

10. What is the direction of nature and human consciousness?
(a) Walking an endless circle.
(b) Like a labyrinth that turns in on itself.
(c) The creation of ever-widening circles.
(d) An unlighted path.

11. How do people try to change old patterns in their lives?
(a) Rebelling against the way they were raised.
(b) Art and music.
(c) Drugs and alcohol.
(d) Education and philosophy.

12. What does Emerson see evidence of everywhere he looks in society?
(a) Decadence.
(b) Loyalty to European traditions.
(c) Defiant reformist mentality.
(d) Lack of desire for independence.

13. According to Emerson, who "should see that he can live all history in his own person"?
(a) The enlightened individual.
(b) The scholar.
(c) The historian.
(d) The philosopher.

14. What kind of friendship does Emerson prefer?
(a) A rough kind of friendship.
(b) A friendship that is "evenly matched."
(c) An intellectual friendship.
(d) A long-distance friendship.

15. What is the primary tool of the poet?
(a) Experience.
(b) Imagination.
(c) Truth.
(d) Language.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Emerson believe about nature?

2. How is a new experience of reality evidenced, according to "Art"?

3. What does Emerson say people hope to have happen to old patterns?

4. What does Emerson link with transcendentalism in "The Transcendentalist"?

5. Whom does Emerson especially urge to experience their own heroism?

(see the answer keys)

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