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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. Why was Emerson's meeting with Carlyle a "white day in his years"?

2. How does Richardson characterize the year 1834 in Emerson's life?

3. What vow does Richardson say Emerson made to himself while he was writing Nature?

4. How does Richardson characterize the development of Emerson's writing in 1834?

5. How did travel in Italy affect Emerson?

Short Essay Questions

1. What view of Jakob Boehme's did Emerson pick up?

2. What was Emerson's relationship with tuberculosis?

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

4. Where did Emerson travel in Europe?

5. Why did Emerson travel to the South?

6. What was the Transcendental Club?

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

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

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

10. What was Emerson's relationship with Carlyle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What kind of writer was Ralph Waldo Emerson? Was he a poet, or a religious writer, or a writer of some other sort? Define your terms and make a case based on the text.

Essay Topic 2

How did Emerson overcome the grief and loss he experienced so many times? What counterbalanced the sorrow and misery? What emotional, spiritual or personal reserves did he draw on?

Essay Topic 3

Are there aspects of Emerson's personality that Richardson overlooks or underplays? Make a case that Richardson has misrepresented Emerson in some way. What other Emersons do you think there might be, whose stories are still waiting to be told? Use the text for evidence, and explain your hunch.

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