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

2. Sontag insists that images may be ineffective; however, they do serve one basic and significant function. What is that function?
(a) Images remind us that humans are capable of causing great pain.
(b) Images provide representation for the victims, no matter how flawed.
(c) Images provide moral education.
(d) Images inoculate us to the effects of atrocity.

3. 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?
(a) The type which is only relative to a particular culture, and thus has little effect on outsiders.
(b) The type which is often underestimated for its emotional impact.
(c) The type which, through the narrative form of pathos, continually induces emotional reactions.
(d) The type which is perennially performed, but which achieves less of a reaction with each performance.

4. Sontag argues that journalists who photograph war are often received with resistance. She suggests that the desire to capture images of suffering is often described in which of the following ways?
(a) Cruel and unusual.
(b) Cruel and torturous.
(c) Exploitative and perverse.
(d) Vulgar and low.

5. Sontag corrects her earlier argument by claiming that which of the following is eroded by modern media saturation?
(a) Human empathy.
(b) Sense of urgency.
(c) Sense of reality.
(d) Human decency.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Sontag, Wall's photograph may have been an updated version of which infamous image from the First World War?

2. Sontag claims that Bataille could see extreme pain as a form of __________.

3. Sontag criticizes American portrayals of U.S. military strategy, saying that war museums do not emphasize which of the following?

4. Although images were more prevalent, which of the following was NOT also true?

5. In portraying horrors, Leonardo da Vinci encouraged artists to be:

Short Essay Questions

1. Sontag claims that there is historical evidence to suggest that, despite contemporary belief, war has always been the norm, and peace the exception to that norm. Discuss one of the examples Sontag provided.

2. Sontag discusses two widespread ideas about the influence of photography. What is the first idea? Discuss it including one example.

3. According to Sontag, how does Goya's "The Disasters of War" differ from most depictions of mutilated and tortured bodies?

4. Why does Sontag say that "it is not necessarily better to be moved?" Discuss the negative aspects of sentimentality.

5. Sontag discusses the emergence of apathy and cynicism toward war. According to her discussion, what feeling underlies cynicism about war and atrocity? What is the purpose of this cynicism?

6. Although there are more images broadcast, Sontag suggests that the human response to suffering is relatively unchanged. Discuss Sontag's views on our capacity for dealing with suffering.

7. Sontag asserts that many people become frustrated by their inability to act on the images of suffering they see in the media. What does this frustration often become?

8. Describe the scene which Sontag refers to as the first description of bodies in anguish and identify the source of this description.

9. How does our contemporary view of suffering differ from earlier, more traditional Western views?

10. Sontag suggests that there is a rise of sadism in contemporary culture. Discuss this assertion using specific examples.

(see the answer keys)

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