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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Emerson claim we have become, in stating that man will see that we need his ethics?
(a) Desponding whimperers.
(b) Passive snivelers.
(c) Hopeless whiners.
(d) Dejected complainers.

2. At which point is a person willing to "let the words go"?
(a) When he or she realizes that they are useless.
(b) When he or she no longer needs them.
(c) When he or she understands them.
(d) When he or she becomes self-reliant.

3. Which of the following does Emerson NOT use as an example of self-sufficiency?
(a) A child growing up to be a man.
(b) A tree recovering from a storm.
(c) The creation of a planet.
(d) A rose blooming after a storm.

4. In the final sentence of "Self-Reliance," Emerson writes: "Nothing can bring you peace but" what?
(a) "Yourself."
(b) "Your own will."
(c) "The triumph of principles."
(d) "The triumph of your character."

5. What "plays us false" in history?
(a) Our imaginations.
(b) Our memories.
(c) Our kings.
(d) Our ceremonies.

6. What is antinomianism ("The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is ... mere antinomianism")?
(a) Spite.
(b) Nihilism.
(c) Rejection of society.
(d) Rejection of manners.

7. In which hours does Emerson say "We feel that duty is our place"?
(a) In manly hours.
(b) In self-reliant hours.
(c) In prudent hours.
(d) In honest hours.

8. What is a hieroglyphic as referred to in talking about virtue paid to kings, nobles and great proprietors?
(a) A symbol.
(b) A monument.
(c) An Egyptian pictogram.
(d) A puzzle.

9. Emerson claims that there are "two confessionals, in one or the other of which we must be shriven." What are the confessionals he is referring to?
(a) God and the self.
(b) Others and the self.
(c) God and others.
(d) God and the Church.

10. According to Emerson, when will man finally be happy?
(a) When he lives with a reverted eye, beyond the past.
(b) When he lives with nature in the present, above time.
(c) When he lives in harmony with his character, beyond blame.
(d) When he lives in harmony with nature, above all.

11. Which system does Emerson accuse of fostering restlessness?
(a) Our system of politics.
(b) Our system of travel.
(c) Our system of religion.
(d) Our system of education.

12. What does Emerson say are "but physiological colors which the eye makes"?
(a) Reality and perception.
(b) Light and dark.
(c) Time and space.
(d) Belief and wisdom.

13. What does Emerson say are "another sort of false prayer"?
(a) Our regrets.
(b) Disunity.
(c) Our creeds.
(d) Imitation.

14. In writing about strength, to whom does Emerson compare the American?
(a) The Ecuadorian.
(b) The Algerian.
(c) The New Zealander.
(d) The Viking.

15. In the state of having "life in yourself" that Emerson describes, what does he claim is of no account?
(a) A man's own personal interest.
(b) This world's many riches.
(c) Vast spaces of nature and long intervals of time.
(d) The will and wanting of others.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which virtue is paid to kings, nobles and great proprietors?

2. Emerson compares society to what in saying "(it) moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not"?

3. What has the world been taught by "this colossal symbol," the world's instructors?

4. Emerson claims that a man or company of men can overpower "all cities, nations, kings, rich men, poets" when he or they posses which characteristic?

5. Emerson says we should do what instead of sitting down to "cry for company" with others?

(see the answer keys)

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