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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Emerson say that it is difficult to live his rule?
(a) Because you will always find people who know your duty better than you.
(b) Because you will never find friends.
(c) Because you will always have to worry about what other people think
(d) Because you will always find people who know your character better than you.

2. Why does Emerson say we distrust our sentiment?
(a) We understand the work required.
(b) We understand the opposition.
(c) We are unsure of what others will think.
(d) We are unsure of ourselves.

3. What does Emerson give as his reason for insisting that we "...must accept in the highest mind the same transcendent destiny..."?
(a) We must live according to our conscience.
(b) Society demands this of us.
(c) We are old enough.
(d) We are now men.

4. What does Emerson say Joseph does with his coat?
(a) Leaves it "among the darkest enemy."
(b) Leaves it "under the cloak of night."
(c) Leaves it "in the hand of the harlot."
(d) Leaves it behind "like an empty husk."

5. What does genuine action explain?
(a) Everything.
(b) Nothing.
(c) One's character.
(d) Itself.

6. What does Emerson claim will happen when you do your work?
(a) You shall reap what you sow.
(b) You shall gain strength against your opposition.
(c) You shall reinforce yourself.
(d) You shall become refined in character.

7. What does Emerson mean when he writes: "...yet when the devout motions of the soul come, yield to them heart and life, though they should clothe God with shape and color"?
(a) God will take on form even if you never believed in a deity.
(b) Encourage the artists that paint the likeness of God.
(c) You should give up your life for those that give form to God.
(d) You will find that God has an actual form.

8. What does Emerson say "...is all that concerns..." him?
(a) What I believe.
(b) What I must do.
(c) My own thought.
(d) My own charities.

9. How does Emerson say he wants his life to be?
(a) Courageous and virtuous.
(b) Glittering and philanthropic.
(c) Genuine and equal.
(d) Peaceful and quiet.

10. What does Emerson say conformity does in his objection to it?
(a) It scatters one's force.
(b) It weakens one's contribution.
(c) It blurs one's judgment.
(d) It drains one's will.

11. What does Emerson say is most important about verses like the ones he mentions at the beginning of the first paragraph?
(a) The writer's character.
(b) The sentiment they instill.
(c) The thoughts they contain.
(d) The writer's true feelings.

12. What does Emerson wish adults could return to?
(a) Their youth.
(b) Their true state.
(c) Their carelessness.
(d) Their neutrality.

13. What does Emerson say a man must know how to estimate in talking about society and nonconformity?
(a) Whether others disagree.
(b) Nonconformists.
(c) A sour face.
(d) The will of others.

14. Which story does Emerson tell to get his point across about self-perception?
(a) That of a poor man who trusts himself enough to become a duke.
(b) That of a duke taken to a poor man's house and told he is a poor man.
(c) That of a poor man taken to a duke's house and told he is the duke.
(d) That of a duke who leaves his riches behind to become a poor man.

15. Who wrote the verses that Emerson mentions at the beginning of the first paragraph?
(a) An unknown painter.
(b) A well-known author.
(c) An unknown sculptor.
(d) An well-known painter.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Emerson say a character is "like an acrostic"?

2. What does Emerson claim most men have attached themselves to?

3. What does Emerson say a man should learn to detect and watch?

4. How does Emerson say it is easy to live after your own opinion?

5. What does Emerson say man is jailed by?

(see the answer keys)

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