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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What observation does Rousseau make about the world in the beginning of Book 4 Chapter 1?
(a) How much money there is to be made.
(b) How much sorrow there is in the world.
(c) How much potential there is in man.
(d) How much knowledge there is to acquire.

2. What is the customary view of children, according to Rousseau?
(a) That they are raw material.
(b) That they are weak.
(c) That they are angels.
(d) That they are devilish.

3. What is the ultimate goal of Rousseau's educational philosophy?
(a) A student who can discern the difference between not knowing and ineffective grasps at knowledge.
(b) A student who can observe the laws of the government and of the church.
(c) A student who can quote scripture for anything that happens, no matter how rare or unusual.
(d) A student who acts as a repository for facts and theories for the benefit of the society around him.

4. Rousseau contrasts book learning with what kind of learning?
(a) Hands-on learning.
(b) Learning from watching.
(c) Learning from competition.
(d) Learning from dictation.

5. What advice does Rousseau give to mothers?
(a) Rear their children in the country.
(b) Hire a nanny for the child.
(c) Rear their children near their schools.
(d) Never let the children outside.

6. When should children begin book learning, in Rousseau's opinion?
(a) After they have had direct experience.
(b) As soon as they are walking.
(c) As soon as they can read.
(d) After they have learned to write.

7. What does Rousseau urge people to avoid?
(a) Pride.
(b) Gossip and rumor.
(c) Corruption and sin.
(d) Superstition.

8. What does Rousseau recommend mothers should give up?
(a) Foot binding.
(b) Breastfeeding.
(c) Swaddling clothes.
(d) Books.

9. What does the field of epistemology concern itself with?
(a) How we know what we know.
(b) The ideal forms behind the reality we experience.
(c) The realities behind the appearances we can see and measure.
(d) The study of correspondence.

10. What does Rousseau say is new for adolescents?
(a) Passions and humility.
(b) Desire and family.
(c) Perception and judgment.
(d) Knowledge and fear.

11. What does Rousseau say an adolescent's new powers and experiences cause him or her to do?
(a) Speak with new authority.
(b) Chafe against constraints.
(c) Discover new laws.
(d) Submit to authorities.

12. What is the consequence of too many slips in the child-rearing process?
(a) The child becomes a tyrant.
(b) The child becomes too obedient.
(c) The child becomes well adjusted.
(d) The child becomes a coward.

13. What does Rousseau contrast with the active lifestyle?
(a) The sedentary lifestyle.
(b) The meditative lifestyle.
(c) The lifestyle of moderation.
(d) The military lifestyle.

14. How does Rousseau suggest telling students about where babies come from?
(a) Say that they come from the fertilization of an egg by a man's sperm.
(b) Say that they come from a stork, or another mythic beast.
(c) Say that they come from woman's body, with difficulty for the woman.
(d) Say that they come from God.

15. Which student does Rousseau say will learn quickest?
(a) The student motivated by the threat of parental judgment.
(b) The student motivated by selfishness.
(c) The student motivated by competition with fellow students.
(d) The student motivated by desire to know.

Short Answer Questions

1. What additional factor allows a child to exceed his limits?

2. What was the dominant idea in Europe when Rousseau wrote "Emile"?

3. What is most relevant in deciding how or whether to punish a child?

4. How many children did Rousseau have?

5. What does Rousseau say is the purpose of education?

(see the answer keys)

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