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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. How does Richardson characterize the year 1834 in Emerson's life?
(a) The year of trials.
(b) The year of wonders.
(c) The turning point.
(d) The year of transition.

2. What career paths was Emerson torn between?
(a) Farming and writing.
(b) Law and teaching.
(c) Preaching and writing.
(d) Preaching and law.

3. In what movement does Richardson say was Lidian ahead of Emerson?
(a) Advocating the independence of American thought.
(b) Opposition to the Indian Removal.
(c) Abolition.
(d) Women's suffrage.

4. When did Emerson meet Lydia Jackson?
(a) 1832.
(b) 1829.
(c) 1836.
(d) 1834.

5. What stance did Emerson take on American literature?
(a) He celebrated it.
(b) He said that it needed to learn its history from British literature.
(c) He treated it as a narrow branch of British literature.
(d) He said that it began with him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Emerson suffer in 1837?

2. What 1837 event related to slavery does Richardson say affected Emerson's emotional state?

3. What was Emerson's relationship with his reading?

4. What was the Transcendental Club founded to discuss?

5. Where did Emerson travel from South Carolina?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Richardson describe Emerson as a student?

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

3. What was Emerson's relationship with Bronson Alcott?

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

5. What is Emerson doing when Richardson introduces us to him?

6. How did Emerson describe Ellen's death?

7. How was the period surrounding Emerson's marriage a time of mixed blessings?

8. Where did Emerson travel in Europe?

9. What was Emerson's relationship with Margaret Fuller?

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

(see the answer keys)

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