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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. What aspect of love does the author say is momentary?

2. The author claims what kind of feelings toward his wife?

3. What quality does the author say love shares with everything eternal?

4. From who does the author say the secrecy system generally comes?

5. The author asserts that just as nothing is impossible for God, nothing is impossible for whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the author's problem with the vows in the marriage ceremony?

2. When does the secretiveness about which the author writes gain its strength?

3. How does the author distinguish between the erotic embrace and the marital embrace?

4. How is first love the unification of freedom and necessity?

5. Describe the fantasy marriage the author proposes to the young man.

6. What does the author write about egotistic depression?

7. How does the author define and marriage of convenience?

8. Why does the author say that dealing with the young man is a most difficult task?

9. How does the author describe romantic love?

10. What is the author's attitude toward "first love"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the second chapter of EITHER/OR the author discusses mysticism at length. How does the author define mysticism? What is the author's attitude toward mysticism? What is the mystic's error? And finally, how does the mystic choose himself "abstractly"? Discuss citing specific examples to support your argument.

Essay Topic 2

Both the author of the letter and the letter's recipient are men. Discuss the influence of gender in EITHER/OR. How might the letter be different if it were written by or to a woman? Why do you think both of the characters are men? Discuss citing specific examples.

Essay Topic 3

The author discusses the forms of love extensively in EITHER/OR. How many different forms of love does the author identify? How are they distinct from one another and how do they relate to one another? What is the place of each form of love in a man's life? How does each form of love relate to marriage? Discuss citing specific examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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