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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. According to the author, what happens when Nature is seen up-close or from a different angle?

2. What was the subject of the poem the author quotes in Appendix 5?

3. Which of Van Gogh's paintings does the author use as an example of Western landscape art?

4. How does the author describe La Tour as a person?

5. From what secondary mental illness did Carlyle suffer, according to his biographer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of the Wordsworth quote in Appendix 5?

2. What is the "negative significance" which, according to the author, Carlyle and others like him saw in the world?

3. According to the author in Appendix 6, how are the doors of Heaven and Hell opened for the living?

4. What are the types of passage that the author mentions at the end of Appendix 6?

5. What is the difference between Western and Eastern art, as stated in Appendix 5?

6. What does the author say in Appendix 5 about "Nature at the middle distance"?

7. What literary allusions does the author make near the end of Appendix 6 regarding schizophrenics?

8. What does the author mean when he calls La Tour an "extroverted visionary"?

9. According to the author, what is unique about "Raft of the Medusa," artistically speaking?

10. How can a state similar to schizophrenia be deliberately induced?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Color and light are both crucial aspects of a visionary experience, according to Huxley. Why? In what natural objects are color and light often seen in an intense concentration? How are these objects part of religion and spirituality? In Huxley's opinion, why are color and light so important to visionary experiences?

Essay Topic 2

Different groups have very different attitudes toward vision-inducing methods, according to Huxley. Which groups does Huxley mention? What are their attitudes toward various vision-inducing methods? Does Huxley agree with any of these groups? If so, which one?

Essay Topic 3

Huxley is very interested in the mental state of schizophrenics and other neurotics. Why is this study so important to Huxley? What does he say about the state in which schizophrenics and other psychotics live their lives, and why does he feel that way? What can be done to help them? What can be done to simulate these disorders in a normal person, and why might that be done?

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