View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Using the example of Ground Zero, Sontag argues that photographs have the power to do which of the following to their subject?
(a) Capture the unseen in it.
(b) Elevate it to something venerable.
(c) Degrade it to something consumable.
(d) Transform it to something beautiful.

2. Sontag cites William Hazlitt's claim that sympathy is no more a part of human nature than is which of the following?
(a) Fear of pain.
(b) Fear of death.
(c) Love of cruelty.
(d) Love of power.

3. Sontag claims that there is no way to guarantee which of the following?
(a) A nation's reaction to the image.
(b) An audience's conscientious reaction.
(c) Visibility of war photographs in this media-saturated environment.
(d) A deferential environment for war photographs.

4. Sontag claims that the model for public space in modern society is which of the following?
(a) The mega-store.
(b) The debate hall.
(c) The classroom.
(d) The memorial.

5. Which of the following works does Sontag site as containing the first recognition of the human fascination with mutilated bodies?
(a) Socrates' "Apologia."
(b) Plato's "The Republic."
(c) Homer's "The Iliad."
(d) Virgil's "The Aeneid."

Short Answer Questions

1. Sebastiao Salgado's work called "Migrations: Humanity in Transition" was often criticized as being:

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

3. Many of the scenes in "Saving Private Ryan" were based on works by which famous World War I photographer?

4. 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?

5. Andy Warhol silk screened which of the following images of war as his only direct statement about the atrocity of war?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Sontag, designating a hell is not enough; yet, she suggests that this ability to name an atrocity does accomplish something. What does this accomplish? What is the point of naming an atrocity an atrocity?

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

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

4. Discuss the significance of the photograph's intended purpose. If a photograph is intended to convey a message, but because of the context in which it is displayed does not, is the photograph still successful?

5. Sontag suggests that Wall's work affirms the normalcy of war. How so?

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 discusses Sebastiao Salgado's series entitled "Migrations: Humanity in Transition" and points out one very problematic effect of the series. Discuss this effect.

8. In her discussion of the emotional impact of artistic renderings of suffering, Sontag referrs to Kabuki or Bunraku plays. What are these plays? Why does Sontag include this example?

9. 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.

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,164 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample