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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. What does Sontag claim as our only connection with the dead?
(a) Love.
(b) Memory.
(c) Images.
(d) Graves.

2. "Without Sanctuary" was a book of photographs taken of which of the following atrocities?
(a) Japanese internment in the U.S.
(b) The Rwanda atrocities.
(c) The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
(d) Lynchings of black Americans in the 1930s.

3. According to Sontag, people are less responsive to images of violence in which of the following contexts?
(a) Times of relative peace in one's home nation.
(b) Times of seemingly unending war.
(c) Instances of mass casualty.
(d) Armed conflicts amassing the deaths of military personnel.

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

5. 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 death.
(b) Fear of pain.
(c) Love of cruelty.
(d) Love of power.

Short Answer Questions

1. For Sontag, the impression that there are more news of atrocity is probably which of the following?

2. What sentiment concludes the book?

3. Which two things does Sontag say seem to go together?

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. Which of the following poets expressed concerns about the effect of national-scale events on human sensibility in 1800?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sontag mean when she said that photographs transform?

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

3. 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?

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

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

6. Discuss Sontag's assertion that some images serve as memento mori. What does she mean? How do they serve this purpose?

7. 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.

8. Sontag contrasts the perceived number of atrocities now with the number from years ago, and makes a specific claim about the rate of atrocity. Discuss this assertion.

9. Sontag claims that a book is still the best medium for circulating images of atrocity. Name the three reasons she provides.

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

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