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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Sontag argues that we are most disappointed to discover that which type of photographs have been staged?

2. Sontag lists which of the following as images that the artist "takes"?

3. The protagonist of J'Accuse, the 1938 anti-war film, cries out which of the following in German and in English?

4. Sontag, confirming Walter Lippmann's assertion, argues that photography replaced which of the following media for representing the truth?

5. Which famous surrealist thinker does Sontag quote as saying "Beauty will be convulsive, or it will not be?"

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss the reaction of the British public to the image of trenches of unburied bodies taken 10 days after a British defeat during the Boer War. What does this reaction say about the sensibility of the public?

2. Sontag asserted that "cameras have always kept company with death." What did she mean by this assertion?

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

4. Sontag stated that the photographer's intentions do not determine the message of the photograph. Discuss the contributing factors which influence the reception of photographs in the media.

5. Discuss the purpose of Virginia Woolf's "Three Guineas" as explained by Sontag, and explain why Sontag opens her book with this reference.

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

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

8. According to Sontag, how do mass Hollywood productions influence the public's perception of catastrophic or horrific events?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

On witnessing suffering in a photograph, are we morally or ethically obligated to be emotionally moved? Sontag suggested that perhaps the viewer should not feel ashamed for not feeling a reaction. Do you agree or disagree? Support your position with a discussion of the ethics of witnessing suffering from such a distance.

Essay Topic 2

Media coverage of the Vietnam War produced a mass outcry against war, while the media coverage of 9/11 produced more divergent effects on individuals. What do you think accounts for this difference? Is it perhaps the difference between a far-off conflict and an attack at "home"? Is it perhaps something in the nature of the wars themselves? Is it the difference in media coverage? Or is it something altogether different? Defend your position with evidence and support.

Essay Topic 3

In her analysis of Woolf's views of war and the business of making war, Sontag elaborated on her contemporary views on gender and its significance to an individual's understanding of war. Do you agree with her gendered assumptions or arguments? Are you more inclined to support Woolf's statement? Why or why not? Be sure to support your argument with contemporary examples and evidence from the text.

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