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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 path does nature take according to the author?

2. What history does the author say proves to be incommensurable for poetry?

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

4. How does the concept the author mentions act on him?

5. According to the author how does philosophy view history?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How may talent become a hindrance to the enjoyment of life, according to the author?

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

6. What "gift of grace" does the author say he would add to those listed in the bible?

7. What does the author write about "the Moment"?

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

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

10. What does the author dislike about philosophy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

What do we come to understand about the young man to whom the letter is written? Create and defend a detailed portrait of the young man using specific clues from the text.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 781 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample