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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In order to take pleasure in suffering, Sontag argues that one must necessarily have which of the following?
(a) A sadistic streak characteristic of serial killers.
(b) Distance from the source of suffering.
(c) Deep seated feelings of misanthropy.
(d) A sense of moral or intellectual superiority.

2. Underneath feelings of apathy, Sontag contends are which of the following feelings?
(a) Frustration and rage.
(b) Superiority and indifference.
(c) Anger and righteousness.
(d) Sentimentality and despair.

3. For Sontag, the impression that there are more news of atrocity is probably which of the following?
(a) An accurate perception.
(b) An illusion.
(c) An obnoxious overstatement.
(d) A regrettable truth.

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

5. Sontag argues that there are two extreme positions on a spectrum of war experience which create the same idea that images of war are no longer emotionally-jarring for an audience? Which two positions are they?
(a) Scholars and politicians.
(b) Victims and perpetrators of atrocity.
(c) Unexperienced cynics and the war-weary.
(d) Soldiers and civilians of war-torn regions.

6. Sebastiao Salgado's work called "Migrations: Humanity in Transition" was often criticized as being:
(a) "Generalizing."
(b) "Melodramatic."
(c) "Exploitative."
(d) "Cinematic."

7. Sontag criticizes American portrayals of U.S. military strategy, saying that war museums do not emphasize which of the following?
(a) The victims of U.S. military force.
(b) U.S. defeat in battle.
(c) U.S. use of disproportionate fire power.
(d) War crimes committed by United States officers.

8. Which Dreiser novel does Sontag reference in the final chapter?
(a) "Sister of War."
(b) "Death of a Salesman."
(c) "An American Tragedy."
(d) "The Crucible."

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

10. Which of the following terms does Sontag define as a commonly used term for those whose profession like journalists takes them into war zones?
(a) War voyeurism.
(b) War tourism.
(c) Atrocity tourism.
(d) Conflict exploitation.

11. Which of the following is an account of a man's last hours before his execution at the guillotine?
(a) "The Hours."
(b) "The Green Mile."
(c) "The Ascent."
(d) "The Execution of Troppmann."

12. When Baudelaire expressed his concerns about the effects of the newspaper in 1860, which of the following was true?
(a) Newspapers had begun printing images alongside the stories.
(b) Newspapers had recently become more widely available to the public.
(c) Newspapers had begun to sensationalize headlines.
(d) Newspapers did NOT yet print images.

13. Contemporary society, at the time Sontag wrote the book, unanimously witnessed a rise of which of the following in the media?
(a) War protest.
(b) Sadism and sexuality.
(c) Violence and sexuality.
(d) Violence and sadism.

14. In portraying horrors, Leonardo da Vinci encouraged artists to be:
(a) Sensitive.
(b) Pitiless.
(c) Cautious.
(d) Restrained.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Georges Bataille, famous for his studies of the erotic, kept which of the following images on his desk?

2. Sontag cites the Japanese narrative "Chushingura" in which the protagonist stops to appreciate the beauty of cherry blossoms one last time before committing ritual suicide as an example of which kind of shocking art?

3. Sontag claims that some photographs which are "repulsive" can also ________.

4. Overall, Sontag seems to believe that images are ultimately which of the following?

5. Sontag suggests that it is still possible to "feel the pulse of Christian iconography" in much war photography. Which famous work of art does she suggest can be seen in W. Eugene Smith's photograph of the woman in Minamata cradling her child?

(see the answer keys)

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