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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 the author's does Richardson say Emerson followed "surprisingly far?"
(a) Faith in evolutionary processes.
(b) Disregard for individuality.
(c) Doubt about the possibility of transcendent experience.
(d) Respect for historical determinism.

2. How did "The Dial" change Emerson's writing?
(a) He was writing less.
(b) He was writing shorter works.
(c) He was writing longer essays.
(d) He stopped writing almost completely.

3. What did Emerson say about women's rights?
(a) That they should acquire them slowly and patiently.
(b) That they should have them, but that they did not want them.
(c) That women had already proved themselves more than capable of equality with men.
(d) That advocacy was the only obstacle to full recognition; but that advocacy sapped every cause.

4. What did Emerson become interested in after discovering Hafiz?
(a) Prints and music.
(b) The progress of history.
(c) Science.
(d) Asian history.

5. How does Richardson say Emerson felt in response to the work he did for Carlyle?
(a) Inspired to write poetry.
(b) Humbled so that he could not write.
(c) Motivated to write his own essays.
(d) Afraid of failure and competition.

Short Answer Questions

1. In what way did Emerson try to form a commune?

2. Who does Emerson say he had always considered his best friend?

3. What did Emerson begin to write about after returning to America?

4. For how long was Emerson the editor of "The Dial?"

5. How did Emerson's views on individuality and idealism respond to the immense cultural changes of the 1840s, according to Richardson?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what ways did Emerson differ from his friends' opinions?

2. Describe the effect Margaret Fuller Ossoli's death had on Emerson.

3. Who was Jones Very?

4. What was Hegel's importance to Emerson's thinking?

5. Describe Emerson's lecturing career.

6. What political events did Emerson witness during his trip to Europe?

7. Describe Emerson's relationship with Whitman.

8. To what use does Emerson put great men in Representative Men?

9. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's fame?

10. How does Richardson describe Emerson's home life in the 1850s?

(see the answer keys)

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