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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 references an agreement in which the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan came together to renounce war. What is the name of this agreement?
(a) The Treaty of Versailles.
(b) The Treaty of Brandenburg.
(c) The Non-Aggression Pact of 1937.
(d) Kellogg-Briad Pact of 1928.

2. Sontag argues that creating lasting interest in war image requires which of the following?
(a) A reputation for cutting-edge journalism.
(b) A large budget from advertising.
(c) A brave star witness.
(d) A plethora of shocking images.

3. Which of the following is true about representations of the dead or dying in American media?
(a) American journalism favors American subjects, often overlooking people in "remote" places.
(b) American news media applies the same standards of decency to all victims, regardless of country of origin.
(c) The faces of the dead and dying from "exotic" places are more likely to be shown.
(d) FCC laws prohibit the printing of images including the faces of war victims.

4. Sontag argues that technological advances changed the way the public understands war by:
(a) Shielding the public from scenes of the wounded and dying.
(b) Allowing journalists to represent the war in detail as it happens.
(c) Producing mass casualties and horrific destruction.
(d) Improving the power and accuracy of weapons.

5. Sontag lists which of the following as images that the artist "makes"?
(a) Drawings and paintings.
(b) Photographs and etchings.
(c) Etchings and drawings.
(d) Paintings and photographs.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Sontag, why do images of atrocities fail to convey a singular, universal message?

2. Discussing the "co-spectatorship" and "indecency" of the image of the Vietcong suspect's execution, Sontag asserts which of the following?

3. Faced with "information overload," people remember a photograph because it is a quick way of storing information, much like which of the following strategies?

4. Sontag argues that a photograph by which of these photographers triggered mass outcry against the Vietnam War?

5. "The Killing Fields" depicts which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Sontag suggests that the same photograph might elicit "opposing responses." Discussing a specific example, explain how this might be possible.

3. Discuss the significance of Eddie Adams' photograph of the execution of a suspected Vietcong agent. What did Sontag say was particularly striking about this image and the circumstances of its creation?

4. According to Sontag, how does a photograph in the news media differ from a written account? How does the audience change?

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

6. According to Sontag, how are photographs of victims a form of rhetoric? What is their purpose or message? How do they function to convey this message?

7. Sontag compared the photograph to a maxim or a proverb. Explain this comparison. What does it tell us about the nature or impact of photographs?

8. 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?

9. Explain the connection Sontag made between religious narratives and iconography and the Western understanding of images of suffering. Discuss at least one example from the text.

10. Sontag agrees with Woolf's assertion that the educated class has failed to understand war. How is this a failure of empathy or imagination?

(see the answer keys)

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