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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through The Science of Liberty.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Richardson say his book illustrates in Emerson's life?
(a) His emotional life.
(b) His life as opposed to his reputation.
(c) His literary development.
(d) His genius and his flaws.

2. How does Richardson characterize 1844 in Emerson's life?
(a) A year of losses.
(b) A year of endings.
(c) A year of beginnings.
(d) A year of transition.

3. According to Richardson, what feeling would stay with Emerson for the rest of his life, after the Norton affair?
(a) The flush of success.
(b) The pride of accomplishment.
(c) Doubt about his talents.
(d) The taste of public censure.

4. What were Emerson's religious beliefs tending toward, at the time of his ordination?
(a) Uncertainty about the nature of the divine.
(b) Certainty that divine grace is the only avenue to redemption.
(c) Doubts regarding divine grace.
(d) Certainty that the self provides the only access to divinity.

5. Why was Emerson's meeting with Carlyle a "white day in his years"?
(a) He and Carlyle became fast friends.
(b) He and Carlyle discovered that they were related.
(c) He and Carlyle discovered a deep and productive antagonism.
(d) He and Carlyle challenged each other to define a new philosophy for the modern age.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's feeling about the essay "The Poet?"

2. What does Richardson say was the turning point in Emerson's life?

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

4. How does Richardson describe Emerson as a young boy?

5. How was Emerson received in Europe?

(see the answer key)

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