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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Inner Light.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What trouble did the Emerson family encounter around the time of Emerson's engagement?
(a) His mother fell ill.
(b) His brother died of tuberculosis.
(c) His father died.
(d) His brother had a mental breakdown.

2. Who was Emerson reading at the time he fell in love with Lydia Jackson?
(a) Goethe.
(b) Fuller.
(c) Hegel.
(d) Hume.

3. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's relationship with his brothers?
(a) Contentious.
(b) Intimate.
(c) Competitive.
(d) Distant.

4. How are we introduced to Emerson in the Prologue?
(a) He is opening his dead wife's casket.
(b) He is writing his first major work.
(c) He is being celebrated as the poet of the people.
(d) He is traveling South to recover his health.

5. How did travel in Italy affect Emerson?
(a) He was overcome with awe.
(b) He felt dwarfed by the history there.
(c) He became suspicious of Old World philosophy.
(d) He was rejuvenated.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what author did Emerson find guidance during Ellen Tucker's death?

2. What does Richardson say his book illustrates in Emerson's life?

3. What troubled Emerson during his travels to the South?

4. Where did Emerson move, in advance of writing Nature?

5. What was Emerson's family's economic status when Emerson was in college?

(see the answer key)

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