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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Richardson say is the immovable anchor in Emerson's thought?

2. What career paths was Emerson torn between?

3. Who died in 1834?

4. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's household in 1835-1836?

5. Who influenced Emerson during this turning point?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How was Emerson's intellectual interest changed by Ellen's illness and decline?

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

6. How does Richardson characterize Lidian, Emerson's second wife?

7. How does Richardson describe Emerson as a student?

8. How does Richardson describe Emerson as a child?

9. What was Emerson's relationship with tuberculosis?

10. Describe Emerson's relationship with Thoreau.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Richardson says that Emerson was surprised by his reaction to Lincoln. Where else did Emerson surprise himself, and what value did he attach to being surprised? Was it something he sought out, or something he protected himself against? How did he do each of these things?

Essay Topic 2

Which writer or intellectual do you think had the greatest influence on Emerson? Hegel? Hume? Taylor? Fuller? Thoreau? Make an argument based on the text.

Essay Topic 3

Emerson is famous for his belief in the idea that people are guided by inner lights. In what instances did Emerson act on this belief most effectively? How do his actions show us his philosophy, or is it in his writing that we see this most? (In which case, how do we understand the difference between the work and the man?)

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