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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 does the author accuse the young man of having become?

2. What does the author claim the aesthetic is?

3. What does the author claim he is not?

4. What does the author say art and poetry do for us?

5. If a sailor is enchanted by a mermaid's song, what is the only way to break the spell according to the author?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the author define philosophy and what does he appreciate about it?

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

4. How does the author describe his depression?

5. Why does the author write humans fear death?

6. Briefly describe what the author means by the term Either/Or.

7. What does the author say the young man proposes is the definition of a hero? What does the author encourage the young man to suppose instead?

8. What are the advantages of the ethical theory of talent as opposed to the aesthetic theory of talent?

9. What does the author say to despotic husbands who utterly dominate their wives?

10. What does the author say is the proper attitude for a married man in a time of material need?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the characteristics of the author of the letter? What kind of man is he? What is his life like? Create and defend a detailed portrait of the author of the letter citing specific examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

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 3

In the final chapter of EITHER/OR the author asserts it is upbuilding to realize that in relation to God we are always in the wrong? Elucidate the author's position in detail citing specific examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

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