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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. Surrealism, like photography, seeks to look at ___________ objects, according to those who deem them so.

2. Arbus simply strove to present the subjects of her photographs as ____________ to the viewers.

3. The FSA project took pictures of __________ groups living in rural areas and experiencing rural problems.

4. Surrealism is like a _____________ because it can't make anything new - it can only judge the past.

5. In what year was photography invented, according to Sontag's research as outlined in this book?

Short Essay Questions

1. What kind of art does Sontag believe photography has become, according to the text in this chapter?

2. What are the two groups into which photographers can be categorized, according to the text in this chapter?

3. What was the goal of the Farm Service Administration photographic project in 1935 as described in this chapter?

4. How did Whitman want to see society as a whole, according to Sontag's writings in this chapter?

5. What did Steichen thus do with his photographs in terms of creating importance with the subject of the picture?

6. Why is surrealism not necessarily a universal art form, according to this particular chapter?

7. Why is it unusual to include writing about Walt Whitman in a book about photography?

8. How does surrealism look at wealth, which is the same way that photography seems to look at wealth?

9. What do photographs do to the scale of an object within the photograph and in real life, according to Sontag?

10. Why is photography a democratizing experience, according to Sontag in this particular chapter of the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sontag points out that some photographers are like scientists, documenting and examining the world.

Part 1: Why do you think photographers could be called scientists?

Part 2: Do you think photography is necessary in science? Why or why not?

Part 3: Why do you think it's important to document the world? Or isn't it?

Essay Topic 2

Sontag points out that most people either have a camera or have access to a camera, making them hard to avoid these days.

Part 1: Why do you think people are so interested in having cameras around?

Part 2: Do you have a camera? Why or why not?

Part 3: Do you think cameras will be more or less important as the years go on? Why?

Essay Topic 3

In its beginnings, photography was thought to be unnatural and disgraceful, though it eventually grew accepted and then revered.

Part 1: Why do you think photography was once thought to be unnatural?

Part 2: Why do you think the attitude toward photography changed over the years?

Part 3: In what ways is photography unnatural today? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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