View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happens to Seneca's work ethic and studies once he moves to the country?
(a) He studies less, but says it really isn't distraction since he is focusing on nature.
(b) They improve.
(c) He stops all together.
(d) He finds himself distracted by nature.

2. According to his criticism in Letter CVIII, what does Seneca say literary scholars should do with philosophical theories?
(a) Write fiction about them that will appeal to the masses.
(b) Apply them to their own lives.
(c) Interpret them correctly.
(d) Compare them to other theories.

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

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

5. How does Seneca spend most of his day?
(a) Dreaming.
(b) In study.
(c) Praying.
(d) Exercising.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who objects to Posidinus' claims about past rulers and technological inventions?

2. Whose first instinct is it to incorporate wisdom into his life and actions?

3. What phrase best sums up Letter XCI?

4. What kind of events does Seneca say upsets people the most?

5. According to Seneca, what is death?

Short Essay Questions

1. What advice does Seneca give for staying safe?

2. Who was Scipio and why does Seneca praise him?

3. What is Seneca's criticism of the typical liberal arts scholar?

4. Why does Seneca object to Posidinus' claims that philosopher's ruled during the Golden Age and were responsible for many new technological innovations?

5. According to Seneca, what destroyed man's harmonic relationship with nature and what was the result?

6. How, according to Letter LXXXIII, does Seneca spend his day?

7. Which city burned and how did it affect Seneca?

8. Why does Seneca move to the country and what effects result from the move?

9. What is the purpose of technology, according to Seneca?

10. How, according to Seneca, are life and philosophy both the gifts of the gods?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 886 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample