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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How much duty does Seneca say one must must fulfill before his life ends?
(a) Whatever the tax collector chooses to bill him.
(b) 25 years worth.
(c) At least one good deed per day.
(d) No set amount.

2. According to Seneca, what should a person use to guide his life?
(a) Religion.
(b) Theory.
(c) Logic.
(d) Examples.

3. What does Seneca admit that he cares less about as he ages?
(a) His appearance.
(b) His friends.
(c) His hair.
(d) His financial affairs.

4. What is caused by the flaunting of one's possessions?
(a) Envy.
(b) Happiness.
(c) Bitterness.
(d) Greed.

5. Who wrote the Iliad?
(a) Virgil.
(b) Homer.
(c) Seneca.
(d) Petronius.

6. What is duty that Seneca states all men are bound to eventually carry out?
(a) Death.
(b) Public service.
(c) Civic responsiblity.
(d) Taxes.

7. Why does Seneca say he considered suicide once?
(a) Out of consideration for his parents.
(b) He felt worthless.
(c) He didn't feel loved or needed by society.
(d) To escape his illness.

8. Who especially does Seneca consider when he makes his move to the country?
(a) His mother.
(b) His father.
(c) Himself.
(d) His wife.

9. Whose first instinct is it to incorporate wisdom into his life and actions?
(a) The literary scholar.
(b) The philosopher.
(c) The priest.
(d) The teacher.

10. According to Letter LXV, how do friends get Seneca to stop reading and writing while he is sick?
(a) By asking him to discuss a philosophical question.
(b) By entertaining him with a short play.
(c) By bringing in a card game.
(d) By taking him to a hospital.

11. What is a syllogism?
(a) Two words that sound alike but have different meanings.
(b) A word or phrase with repetitive consonants.
(c) Two words with the same number of syllables and same meanings.
(d) A form of deductive reasoning/logic.

12. What creates certain habits of study and thought which are actually useful?
(a) Sciences.
(b) Fine arts.
(c) Business studies.
(d) Liberal arts.

13. What includes the studies of literature, rhetoric and history?
(a) Bachelor of arts.
(b) Still life art.
(c) Liberal arts.
(d) Fine arts.

14. What does Seneca give advice about coping with in Letter LXXVIII?
(a) Religious faith.
(b) Grief.
(c) Love.
(d) Illness.

15. What phrase best sums up Letter XCI?
(a) The early bird catches the worm.
(b) Never look back.
(c) If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
(d) Expect the unexpected.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of all that happens in the world, according to Seneca?

2. What affects Seneca's exercise time according to Letter LXXXIII?

3. In Letter LXXXIII, whose logic does Seneca question?

4. According to Seneca, who can truly appreciate wisdom?

5. What becomes of people who live a quiet, private life which incites neither anger nor envy?

(see the answer keys)

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