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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Chesterton, what keeps a man sane?
(a) Mysticism.
(b) God.
(c) Reason.
(d) Religion.

2. What document does Chesterton refer to by the word "orthodoxy"?
(a) The Nicene Creed.
(b) The Apostles' Creed.
(c) The Athanasian Creed.
(d) The Disciples' Creed.

3. What does evolution destroy, according to Chesterton?
(a) Modern intelligence.
(b) Religion.
(c) Science.
(d) Reason.

4. What conclusion does the complete skeptic eventually reach?
(a) He has no right to think for himself.
(b) No one else can think for him.
(c) There are no answers to be found.
(d) He will never find the answers.

5. According to Chesterton, when is a disease beautiful?
(a) When it brings conversion to the invalid.
(b) When it is someone else's disease.
(c) When it reveals the invalid's soul.
(d) When the disease is gone.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Chesterton, what is too big an undertaking for a book even of a larger scope?

2. Why does Chesterton say that satire is disappearing from modern literature?

3. Why, according to Chesterton, can a madman never understand simple, careless acts?

4. Why does Chesterton not claim this new-found philosophy as his own?

5. According to Chesterton, who is the only person to whom a modern realistic novel would not be boring?

Short Essay Questions

1. As he begins to talk about fairy land, what does Chesterton argue about rationalism? How does this open the door to excitement in the world?

2. How does Chesterton explain the idea of the madman in life, in experience? How does this person live in the world?

3. According to Chesterton, the complete skeptic knows that he cannot think anything. How does this differ from the young skeptic? How does the complete skeptic show a true awareness of where he is?

4. Considering the fact that elf land is more rational than the scientific world is, why does Chesterton say that magic flourishes in elf land?

5. Why does Chesterton claim that fairyland is more rational than the scientific world? Does the sense of wonder remain?

6. Why does Chesterton say that the act of willing is a limiting act? Could it be freeing instead? What happens if you attempt to free something from the laws of its nature?

7. Chesterton assumes that he and his reader will share the common ground of agreeing that an interesting, active life is preferable to simple existence. Is this a fair starting point? Why or why not?

8. Chesterton explains that a madman's mind moves in a small, perfect circle. What does he mean with this picture? How does it relate to the movements of a sane man's mind?

9. Chapter II, The Maniac, begins with the idea that man believing in himself is a weakness. Chesterton asserts this in the face of modern thinking, which says believing in oneself is the strongest way to live. What reasons does Chesterton give for asserting this statement?

10. Chesterton asserts that though the world has its share of evils, the modern virtues actually have a more devastating effect. How does he support this radical idea? What relationship does this have to Christianity?

(see the answer keys)

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