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

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Augustine unable to believe in Jesus?

2. What is better to seek after than earthly pleasures?

3. What happens to a friend who is ill and unconscious?

4. By what does Augustine feel overwhelmed?

5. Why does Augustine get in trouble?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Augustine fear about the effect of studying pagan myths when he was young?

2. Where is Augustine a student in Carthage and why does he study so diligently?

3. How does Augustine's initial conversion to Christianity come about?

4. What type of religion ensnares Augustine's interest?

5. Why did one of Augustine's friends abandon Christianity and what happens after that?

6. What did Augustine write about that involved a theft of pears and how did he feel about it?

7. What does Augustine foreshadow about philosophy and himself?

8. What is Augustine's thinking on marriage?

9. What do the Manicheans believe about food?

10. What intensifies as Augustine grows into a young man and of what type of behavior does he indulge?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Book III, Monica, Augustine's mother, tries to get Augustine to stop his wrong religious beliefs and life, but can't get him to change. Discuss the following ideas:

1. What are the pitfalls of one person trying to persuade another to believe the way the person believes?

2. Why do you think Monica is so desperate to have Augustine convert to her religion?

3. Obviously, parents behave in a similar fashion then as now, i.e., not "allowing" their adult children to go their own way. Do you think Monica is wrong in this?

Essay Topic 2

Augustine recalls that he was under a lot of peer pressure to seek sexual pleasure and to applaud those who seek it from his peers that he knew from his town and from school. Augustine remembers even inventing sexual exploits to tell his peers, just to impress them.

1. Do you think Augustine's feelings of pressure from his peers was valid? Why or why not?

2. Do you think young men today feel the same peer pressure Augustine felt? Why or why not?

3. Discuss your beliefs about how young people are subjected to peer pressure and what a young person can do about it.

Essay Topic 3

The concept of evil is one that Augustine writes about throughout his Confessions. Discuss one of the following ideas:

1. What are the different ways Augustine defines evil as he changes? Give specific examples.

2. Do you view the actions of Augustine as a young man as evil? Why or why not? Use specific examples from the text and discuss the examples in depth in relation to the question.

3. Do you believe most people have a concept of evil, even those who might be considered truly evil by a general consensus across cultures? Briefly explain what might be a universal concept of evil.

(see the answer keys)

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