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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 Emerson's internal state in 1837?
(a) Self-critical.
(b) Tumultuous.
(c) Self-assured.
(d) Placid.

2. Who came to live with Emerson after his brother Charles died?
(a) Ellery Channing.
(b) Elizabeth Hoar.
(c) Margaret Fuller.
(d) Caroline Sturgis.

3. What topic did Emerson lecture on after returning home from Europe?
(a) Biography.
(b) Science.
(c) Religion.
(d) Literature.

4. What imagery filled Emerson's prose and poems in 1836?
(a) Illness and death.
(b) Forging and birth.
(c) Travel and arrival.
(d) Health and insanity.

5. How does Richardson characterize the beginning of Emerson's relation with Margaret Fuller?
(a) Shaky.
(b) Wary distrust.
(c) Love at first sight.
(d) Instantaneous respect.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Richardson characterize Emerson as a reader?

2. Who does Richardson credit with the birth of American Transcendentalism?

3. What does Richardson say likely caused Emerson's eye problems?

4. What was Emerson's first son's name?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Emerson describe Ellen's death?

2. Where did Emerson travel in Europe?

3. How close was the Emerson family after Emerson's return from Europe?

4. Why did Emerson travel to the South?

5. What was the 'immovable anchor' in Emerson's thinking, according to Richardson?

6. Why did Emerson break with the church?

7. How does Richardson describe Emerson as a child?

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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