View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What did Emerson suffer in 1837?
(a) The death of his brother.
(b) Economic troubles.
(c) The loss of his wife.
(d) The loss of his son.

2. How long did Ellen Tucker and Emerson know each other before they were engaged?
(a) Less than a year.
(b) Five years.
(c) Two years.
(d) Three years.

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

4. What does Emerson say reality is masked by?
(a) Daily routines.
(b) Imagination.
(c) Human sinfulness.
(d) Culture.

5. How does Richardson characterize the development of Emerson's writing in 1834?
(a) His poetry was developing.
(b) He was escaping from the voices to which he had always listened.
(c) He was finding his voice.
(d) His lectures were discovering new territory.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was Emerson's first printed work?

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

3. Where was Emerson going on Christmas Day, 1832?

4. What was Emerson like as a student?

5. What practice did Emerson begin in college?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How did Emerson support himself after Harvard?

3. Where did Emerson travel in Europe?

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

5. What was Emerson's view of American literature?

6. How does Richardson describe the birth of American Transcendentalism?

7. What kinds of images does Richardson say dominated Emerson's thinking and writing in 1836?

8. Why did Emerson travel to the South?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 745 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample