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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 theme does Richardson say Emerson began to write about as he turned forty?

2. Who is Osman?

3. On what theme did Emerson's letters and journals begin to focus after Margaret Fuller's death?

4. What does Richardson say motivated Emerson's feelings about Brook Farm?

5. In what way did many of Emerson's friends affect him in the 1860s and 70s?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's fame?

2. What was Emerson's relationship with "The Dial?"

3. How does Richardson characterize the change that took place in Emerson after Waldo's death?

4. Why, according to Richardson, was Emerson's mood dark while he was preparing for his lecture tour in England?

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

6. How does Richardson characterize the importance of Emerson's friendships after his return from Europe?

7. What was the significance of Emerson's first daughter's name?

8. How was Emerson's work changing as he reached his fortieth birthday, in Richardson's account?

9. Describe Emerson's son's death and its effect on him.

10. Who was Jones Very?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

What is the role or importance of women in Emerson's life? What contribution did they make, and do you think that there is enough recognition of their contribution to his fame and reputation?

Essay Topic 3

What role did death have to play in making Emerson the writer he became? Whose deaths really impacted him, and what did he take from each experience of grief?

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