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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. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's relation to other writers?

2. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's exterior personality?

3. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's relationship with his brothers?

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

5. What is the main theme of Nature?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Emerson travel to the South?

2. What was Emerson's relation with Hume?

3. What Quaker belief of Mary Rotch's did Emerson find compelling?

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

5. What was Emerson's relationship with tuberculosis?

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

7. How did Emerson support himself after Harvard?

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

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

10. Why did Emerson break with the church?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Which of Emerson's friendships had the greatest influence on him? Thoreau? Fuller? His brothers? Channing? Make an argument based on the text.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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