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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. Which family at Big Sur hails from Mexico and embodies the virtues that Americans most undervalue, according to Miller?
(a) The Lee family.
(b) The Diaz family.
(c) The Inez family.
(d) The Lopez family.

2. Miller recalls being disciplined (thrashed) by his father how many times?
(a) Three times.
(b) Twice.
(c) Dozens of times.
(d) Once.

3. Miller asserts that few city dwellers can stand solitude, but communities built on _____ and detachment are inevitable in this destructive world.
(a) Religion.
(b) Benevolence.
(c) Simplification.
(d) Evolution.

4. What is the title of Part 2, "Peace and Solitude: a Potpourri," Chapter 3, and refers to bedtime stories that Miller tells his children?
(a) "The Chama Serial."
(b) "The Karma Series."
(c) "B as in Baxter."
(d) "The City Mouse."

5. How had Doner supported himself in southern Europe?
(a) Playing piano.
(b) Playing cello.
(c) Sculpting for commissions.
(d) Sketching portraits.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Miller's brother-in-law in Jerusalem?

2. Miller writes that the local folk in Big Sur have embraced the healing ambiance and discovered how to live in peace, _____, and community.

3. Which author is a Russian at heart and cannot find a publisher for his novel, The Falling Asleep?

4. In what year is Miller in Villa Seurat?

5. Miller finds it maddening as an artist to be incapable of capturing what adequately?

Short Essay Questions

1. What family lives in the center of Big Sur's community? Where in the text does Miller describe this family and others?

2. What is the main question posed in Part 2, Peace and Solitude: a Potpourri, Chapter 10? Where does Miller gain insight in this subject?

3. What does Miller attest is the principle problem with the people of Big Sur? What comparison does Miller make to classical tragedies?

4. Who is able to thrive in Big Sur and who is not, according to Miller in Part 1, The Oranges of the Millennium?

5. What does Miller write of Tolstoy in Part 2, Peace and Solitude: a Potpourri, Chapter 7? How does his domestic life relate to Miller's?

6. What are some of the eccentricities of "The Anderson Creek Gang," which Miller describes in Part 2, Peace and Solitude: a Potpourri, Chapter 2?

7. What does Miller write of the Lopez family and their children? Who does he contrast this family with?

8. What does Miller assert as signs of the "system breaking down" in Part 1, "The Oranges of the Millennium"?

9. What does Miller write of Dianetics in Part 2, Peace and Solitude: a Potpourri, Chapter 9? What is Dianetics?

10. How does Miller describe Ephraim Doner in "Testimonial in Ut-Mineur"?

(see the answer keys)

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