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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What idea of Emerson's influenced Richardson's biography?
(a) That men are best described by the women in their lives.
(b) That men can only be known through their historical context.
(c) That some men's lives define the extremes of human experience.
(d) That the lives of great mean can tell us about all men.

2. How did Emerson describe Ellen Tucker?
(a) Sensitive and religious.
(b) Rhapsodic and angelic.
(c) Strong-willed and supportive.
(d) Beautiful, with a vibrant spirit.

3. What was Emerson's first son's name?
(a) Waldo.
(b) Charles.
(c) Edward.
(d) Henry.

4. On whom did Emerson's reading focus after he graduated from Harvard?
(a) Romantic poets.
(b) German Transcendentalists.
(c) Scottish Common Sense philosophers.
(d) Platonic philosophers.

5. What was the title of Emerson's first sermon?
(a) "Self-Reliance."
(b) "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
(c) "Pray without Ceasing."
(d) "The Wreck of All Earthly Good."

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's reaction to Ellen's death?

2. In what way did Emerson share a faith with Mary Rotch and the Quakers?

3. Who influenced Emerson during this turning point?

4. What imagery filled Emerson's prose and poems in 1836?

5. What does Richardson say was happening as Emerson and his brother Charles grew closer?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Richardson describe Emerson as a student?

2. What turning point did Emerson reach in his junior year of college?

3. How did travel change Emerson's intellectual interests?

4. How did the birth of Emerson's first son change Emerson's intellectual interests?

5. What was Emerson's relationship with tuberculosis?

6. How was Emerson's "American Scholar" talk received?

7. What was Emerson's relationship with the Abolition movement?

8. What was Emerson's relation with Hume?

9. How did Emerson describe Ellen's death?

10. What was the Transcendental Club?

(see the answer keys)

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