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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. What is the characteristic of Lucilius' friend that Seneca does not hold against him?

2. According to Seneca, if one begins taking lessons other than philosophy, what happens?

3. What is an oxymoron?

4. Which of Lucilius' friends dies?

5. In Letter XII, what does Seneca notice about one of his properties?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Seneca's theory on slavery?

2. What is Seneca's opinion of Vatia? How does it differ from public opinion?

3. What does Seneca confide to Lucilius about his own vices?

4. Why didn't the Stoics write a lot of quotable quotes for students to memorize? What is his opinion about quotable quotes?

5. What does Seneca tell Lucilius about the pace of speech?

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

7. What is the goal of philosophy, as stated by Seneca?

8. What happened when Seneca went out on the town in search of "witty entertainment" and how was he affected by the situation?

9. 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?

10. What is the difference between a Stoic and anyone else in regards to emotions?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss causation, applying the theories of Stoicism, Aristotle and Plato.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the festival Saturnalia. When was it held, what did it celebrate, etc? What is its relationship to a particular Christian holiday?

Essay Topic 3

What is the Greek "golden mean" and how does it apply to Stoicism?

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