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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. Who suggests the correspondence between Seneca and his student should increase?

2. What does Seneca say many slave-owners foolishly think?

3. Who, according to Seneca, retired out of fear of being persecuted by the Emperor?

4. Who says that excessive anger is a threat to one's sanity?

5. While looking for witty entertainment, what does Seneca stumble upon?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Seneca, how should a wise man deal with grief itself?

2. According to Seneca, how much concern should a wise man have regarding his or others' physical beauty?

3. What is Seneca's thoughts on the phrase "cheerful poverty?"

4. What are Seneca's thoughts on fear and how to eliminate it from life?

5. As Seneca comforts Lucilius at the loss of his friend, he says grief has a purpose. What is that purpose and how should a wise Stoic man deal with the death of a friend?

6. When does Seneca say a master should correct his slaves? How should slaves be corrected and why?

7. Lucilius writes Seneca that his melancholy mood remained unchanged no matter how far he traveled from home. How does Seneca explain Lucilius' complaint?

8. According to Seneca, who should think about death and why?

9. According to Seneca, from where where does one's soul originate?

10. How does noise affect Seneca's studies and how does his explanation become a metaphor for the Stoic soul?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is an aphorism and what is Seneca's opinion of them? What is his response to Lucilius when he requests aphorisms?

Essay Topic 2

There are three types of irony: verbal, situational and dramatic. Define each and discuss at least two examples of irony in Seneca's letters.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Seneca's life on Nero's court.

(see the answer keys)

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