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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. For the author, what is a better way to arrive at a definition of sisterhood?

2. How does the author view the concept of personal freedom?

3. What are some of the biggest challenges to sisterhood?

4. For the author, what is the relationship between traditional beliefs about the family and society at large?

5. At the end of the Preface to the second edition, where does the author maintain that a feminist path will lead us?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the author's views of how modern western cultures deal with the process of change.

2. What reasons does the author give for people finding themselves at the center of society?

3. Why does the author want to change feminist language from "I am a feminist" to "I advocate feminism"?

4. What is the author's approach to discussing feminism in Chapter Two, "Feminism - A Movement to End Sexist Oppression;" i.e. how does she structure the chapter?

5. What can alternative models of power accomplish, according to the author?

6. Does the author offer her own definition of feminism in Chapter Two, and if so, what is it?

7. Describe the author's personal experiences with feminists from the same background as Friedan. How did they initially respond to her attempts to contribute to the conversation around feminist theory?

8. What differences and similarities does the author see between black men and white men?

9. In Chapter Four, does the author agree with early feminist definitions of sisterhood?

10. Does the author offer any ideas about how to create sisterhood?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Essay on Ch. 2 and 10: Ideas about the family.

Looking at Ch. 2 and Ch. 10 compare and contrast early and/or mainstream feminist ideas about the family with those of less privileged women.

- Did women of color and lower class women agree with mainstream feminist views on the family? What was their reaction?

- How does the author describe the relationship to family experience by many women of color, especially in relation to the broader society in which they live?

Essay Topic 2

Essay on the two Prefaces, Ch. 12, and the book as a unit: Personal review of the book.

In the two Prefaces, the author introduces the notion of revolutionary feminism. She explains what it is and why U.S. feminism has not created revolutionary change. The author reintroduces the term in Ch. 12.

1) Review the homework in which you discussed the term "revolutionary." Has your understanding of the author's definition of revolutionary feminism expanded after reading the book? How?

2) Do you feel that the book itself is revolutionary?

3) Do you see any areas of the book that seem contradictory?

4) Does the book ultimately achieve its objective of being accessible to everyone?

5) Does society still need books such as this one to provide a "guiding light" for social change?

Essay Topic 3

Essay on Ch. 9: The nature of violence against women.

One of the author's critiques of mainstream feminism is that it was sometimes unable to focus on transforming traditional views on gender, but instead reacted against them. For example, in her discussion of sisterhood in Ch.4, the author notes how early feminists built a notion of sisterhood around a shared sense of victimization. This view did not necessarily rethink the patriarchal dichotomy of victim and aggressor. In Ch. 9, the author notes something similar when she analyzes early feminist views on the nature of violence against women.

1) Discuss what the author means when she says that the practice of violence against women is a manifestation and perpetuation of traditional patriarchal thought, i.e. views on gender. What qualities do men and women possess according to this view. Does this view appear to make violence against women seem normal?

2) How did early feminists perceive the problem of violence against women, and what is the author's critique of their view?

3) Is violence limited to men, in the author's view? Whose problem is violence and how must the phenomenon be addressed in our society?

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