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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 did Emerson discover on reuniting with Carlyle?

2. What idea of the author's does Richardson say Emerson followed "surprisingly far?"

3. What did Emerson turn his house into?

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

5. What world literature did Emerson include in "The Dial?"

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What was Emerson's relationship with abolition?

3. What were Emerson's impressions of England when he traveled there in 1848?

4. How did Emerson balance writing and editing?

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

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

7. Describe Emerson's relationship with Whitman.

8. What was Emerson's talk in Dartmouth like?

9. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's fame?

10. What was Emerson's response to the invitation to join Brook Farm?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Emerson wrote essays on love and spiritual laws, but never marriage. Why not, do you think?

Essay Topic 2

Evaluate your own reading of The Mind on Fire. Did you resist it, or were you compelled by the story? What does your reading tell you about yourself and your interests? Use specific examples from the book to describe yourself as a reader.

Essay Topic 3

What do you think is Emerson's legacy, and who do you think embodies his ideas or messages today? Was his most important legacy his writing or his lectures, his life, or the legend of his personality? What lines have come from him, and who carries those lines now?

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