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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Sontag claims in Chapter 6 that, despite historical evidence to the contrary, we have come to see which of the following as the natural state of being?
(a) Uncertainty.
(b) War.
(c) Fear.
(d) Peace.

2. Sontag claims that shock used for rhetorical purposes can become _________.
(a) Damaging.
(b) Dangerous.
(c) Familiar.
(d) New.

3. Modern society, Sontag argues, is a "society of _______".
(a) Shock.
(b) Sheep.
(c) Sympathy.
(d) Spectacle.

4. Discussing the common person's ability to feel sympathy, Sontag argues which of the following?
(a) People will instinctually distance themselves from suffering.
(b) People will naturally feel empathy, but will quickly distance themselves because society has programmed them to avoid involvement.
(c) People will do anything to keep from being moved by what they see.
(d) People will automatically feel sympathy for victims of atrocity.

5. Sontag claims that Bataille could see extreme pain as a form of __________.
(a) Transfiguration.
(b) Erotic pleasure.
(c) Deification.
(d) Sadomasochism.

6. Sontag writes that provocative images may have which of the following effects on viewers?
(a) Provocative images of suffering may compel viewers to stop subscribing to newspapers for fear of seeing more disturbing photographs.
(b) Provocative images of suffering may incite humanitarian actions to end exploitative actions.
(c) Provocative images may spur viewers to examine how their own privileges are possible through the suffering of others.
(d) Provocative images of suffering may enable a deep sense of human empathy.

7. _______ is a modern development in camera use.
(a) Beautifying.
(b) Simplifying.
(c) Uglifying.
(d) Complicating.

8. A famous campaign for Benetton used which of the following images in its advertising?
(a) A dead Croatian soldier's bloody shirt.
(b) The barbed wire from Warsaw.
(c) A wounded German soldier.
(d) A concentration camp uniform.

9. What sentiment concludes the book?
(a) War photography should be banned.
(b) Photographs of atrocities must be endured.
(c) War is inevitable.
(d) The horror of war is unimaginable.

10. Although images were more prevalent, which of the following was NOT also true?
(a) Humanity became oversensitive to images of suffering.
(b) People's understanding of atrocity increased.
(c) People's reactions to the images were greater.
(d) The human capacity to absorb the images of suffering increased.

11. At the time Sontag wrote the book, many felt what which of the following made atrocity photographs immoral?
(a) Context.
(b) Exploitation.
(c) Abstractness.
(d) Permanence.

12. Neither compassion nor moral indignation would be enough to do which of the following?
(a) End violence.
(b) Stop suffering.
(c) Motivate action.
(d) Inspire change.

13. Sontag argues that many people thought that which of the following makes war seem "real"?
(a) Books.
(b) Proximity.
(c) Photographs.
(d) Movies.

14. Sontag refutes the possibility of a suggestion she made in "On Photography". Which of the following ideas did she refute?
(a) An ecology of images.
(b) An abating of horrors.
(c) A ban on horrific images.
(d) A placation of the public.

15. Which of the following photographers exhibited photographs of Sarajevo in 1994?
(a) Paul Lowe.
(b) Larisa Shepitko.
(c) Jeff Wall.
(d) Frederick Wiseman.

Short Answer Questions

1. It was generally thought that public awareness was largely guided by which of the following?

2. Which two things does Sontag say seem to go together?

3. Underneath feelings of apathy, Sontag contends are which of the following feelings?

4. Sontag claims that compassion requires which of the following in order to remain?

5. Which of the following best describes the "CNN effect" as discussed by Sontag?

(see the answer keys)

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