View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is different about Tipasa now?

2. What happens at noon at the Place du Gouvernement?

3. According to Camus, what have 'the smell of the office clinging to them'?

4. What status as a philosopher does Camus accord Plato?

5. How might the mood of the first three paragraphs of Return to Tipasa be described?

Short Essay Questions

1. What factor does Camus claim separates him from some sections of the leftist movement?

2. What 'two thirsts' has Camus been able to slake through his visit to Tipasa?

3. To what do love, peace and beauty form the antidote?

4. Comment on the title of the essay 'Helen's Exile'.

5. In what respects does Camus state that Algiers is capable of gratifying every human wish?

6. What is ironic and unexpected about Camus' description of the way the Algerian people enjoy summer?

7. From information in Camus' text, what do we understand Tipasa to be?

8. Does Camus see himself as a romantic?

9. In what respect did the Greek philosopher Heraclitus think of human society and the physical universe being similar?

10. What does Camus mean when he says that the 'tyrannies of today are improved'?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

'Camus' use of Franz Kafka's work is particularly apt when we consider the idea of the absurd world.' Discuss the way Camus cites Kafka in the course of his exposition on the absurd. You will need to relate characters and incidents to ideas expressed by Camus. You will also need to consider implications of those ideas. It is important, too, to include any necessary critique of the way Camus has referred to Kafka's work.

Essay Topic 2

'Philosophy is simultaneously important and unimportant.' Can you explain the apparent paradox in this statement? You should make close reference to Camus' absurdist beliefs as expounded in The Myth of Sisyphus. You might like to consider what other paradoxes appear in this work and discuss the possibility of these being resolved.

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Camus has chosen what he terms 'extreme examples' in his essay on Absurd Creation? Consider the function that anecdotes and examples perform in explanation, citing more than one context. Do Camus' examples make it easier to follow his argument? Are the examples appropriate or might others have been used? Suggest one alternative and justify your choice.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,011 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample