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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. Sontag discusses the use of images of the dead to bolster hatred of the enemy. Which of the following recent events, aired on the Al Jazeera network, does she use as an example?
(a) The hanging of Sadam Hussein.
(b) The destruction of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002.
(c) The destruction of the Word Trade Center in 2001.
(d) The invasion of Iraq in 2003.

2. Restrictions on media coverage of the British campaign in the Falklands was notable for which of the following reasons?
(a) They were stricter than any censorship since the Crimean War.
(b) They prohibited foreign journalists from covering the story.
(c) They opened the event to full-scale television coverage.
(d) They allowed only government-sponsored journalists.

3. Which Virginia Woolf book does Sontag discuss in detail?
(a) The Hours.
(b) Orlando.
(c) Three Guineas.
(d) Mrs. Dalloway.

4. Photography on the war front was first banned in an organized fashion during which of the following wars?
(a) The Spanish Civil War.
(b) World War II.
(c) World War I.
(d) The Boer War.

5. The protagonist of J'Accuse, the 1938 anti-war film, cries out which of the following in German and in English?
(a) "Your sacrifices were in vain!"
(b) "War is ugly!"
(c) "The face of war!"
(d) "The horror!"

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Sontag, photographs of atrocities are best received if they are:

2. Photographic representations of the Vietnam War was essential to promoting:

3. Sontag notes that at the time Virginia Woolf wrote "Three Guineas," war journalism was different than it is now. How was it different?

4. Sontag argues that technological advances changed the way the public understands war by:

5. The Brady war pictures were taken of which of the following wars?

Short Essay Questions

1. Sontag distinguished between "image makers" and "image takers". What is the difference between these two groups of artists? How are they perceived differently?

2. How did war journalism change during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39)? How did the coverage of this war more closely resemble modern media coverage of conflicts?

3. Discuss the controversy surrounding the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl in Karachi in 2002. What was the main conflict?

4. What did Sontag mean when she claimed that the memory of war is mostly local? What does this mean for international news firms?

5. Sontag identified two types of censorship which affect war photography. Describe both types of censorship. Which is most influential?

6. Discuss the significance of "Here is New York," the exhibit of photographs taken on September 11th during the collapse of the World Trade Center.

7. Sontag discussed the captions to Goya's "Los Desastres de la Guerra" (The Disasters of War). Explain the significance of these messages to the viewer. How do these captions affect the impact of the image?

8. Explain the purpose of photography collections such as Ernst Friedrich's "Krieg dem Kriege!" (War Against War!), and discuss how these works attempt to achieve this end.

9. Why do images of pain challenge us to look without flinching? According to Sontag, what purpose does this serve?

10. According to Sontag, do people prefer artistic renderings or straight-forward representations of atrocities? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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