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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. What does the author urge the young man to do with his "droll fancies"?
(a) Rid himself of them.
(b) Keep them.
(c) Pass them on to the object of his affection.
(d) Ignore them.

2. What does the author assert is more important than cultivating one's mind?
(a) Cultivating one's garden.
(b) Traveling widely.
(c) Developing one's personality.
(d) Gathering wealth.

3. What kind of woman does the author compare the young man to?
(a) A woman in love.
(b) A spurned woman.
(c) A jealous woman.
(d) A woman in labor.

4. Why does the author say he fights for Either/Or in his letter to the young man?
(a) For money.
(b) For freedom.
(c) For beauty.
(d) For fidelity.

5. What does the author say art and poetry do for us?
(a) Art and poetry bore most of us to tears.
(b) Art and poetry delight us in the moment of consummation.
(c) Art and poetry amaze us with the complexity of their construction.
(d) Art and poetry torture us with their beauty.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the author describe the way of history?

2. What does the author say it is easy to do?

3. What does the author say happens to people who deceive others for an extended period?

4. What does the author claim he has never passed himself off as?

5. To what do doubt and despair belong according to the author?

Short Essay Questions

1. Are any Either/Or choices absolute? Explain.

2. Describe the folktale about Roland's three squires.

3. What does the author assert is the mystic's error?

4. What does the author say is more important than choosing the right thing?

5. What advice does the author give the young man about despair?

6. What does the author dislike about philosophy?

7. Explain how the author uses the metaphor of a ship captain to explain Either/Or.

8. What is the point of the author's story about the count and countess?

9. Why does the author warn against young men being tied down to making a living right away?

10. What is the author's definition of the ethical?

(see the answer keys)

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