View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What kind of prayer does Emerson call "vicious"?
(a) Prayer that appeals thoughtlessly to God.
(b) Prayer that craves a particular commodity.
(c) Disheartened prayer.
(d) Dishonest prayer.

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

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

4. Which emotions does Emerson say are beneath the state of having "life in yourself"?
(a) Fear and hope.
(b) Fear and revenge.
(c) Hope and joy.
(d) Fear and gratitude.

5. What does Emerson say will explain "the magnetism which all original action exerts"?
(a) The right of every man.
(b) The force of character.
(c) The reason of self-trust.
(d) The power of will.

6. Emerson claims that man "stands on tiptoe" to see what?
(a) His blooming garden.
(b) The future.
(c) His own riches.
(d) The past.

7. What does Emerson mean in saying that there "will be power not confident but agent" when the soul is present?
(a) We do not confide our power to others.
(b) We do not hope for power, we have power.
(c) Our power lives.
(d) Our power is not prideful.

8. What is the definition of "docility" as used by Emerson ("our docility to our own law")?
(a) Strength.
(b) Submissiveness.
(c) Weakness.
(d) Passivity.

9. Who does Emerson say has chosen "our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion"?
(a) God.
(b) Society.
(c) Ourselves.
(d) Our families.

10. What does Emerson claim has happened to "the highest truth on this subject" in referencing the point of the essay overall?
(a) It cannot prevail.
(b) It remains unsaid.
(c) It shall remain a mystery.
(d) It cannot be understood.

11. What do our first journeys reveal?
(a) The wonders of the world.
(b) The indifference of places.
(c) A fool's paradise.
(d) The ruins of ruins.

12. What does Emerson say the man who is "really of their class" will be the founder of?
(a) His own tradition.
(b) His family.
(c) His own nation.
(d) A sect.

13. "Nature suffers nothing to remain in her kingdoms which..."?
(a) "...cannot speak the truth."
(b) "...cannot help others."
(c) "...cannot help itself."
(d) "...cannot display power."

14. According to Emerson, what is the same to both "kingdom and lordship" and "John and Edward"?
(a) The value of a palace.
(b) The importance of character.
(c) The force of power.
(d) The things of life.

15. What does Emerson say one shouldn't travel in hope of?
(a) "Finding somewhat greater than [one] knows."
(b) "Escaping the difficult decisions ahead."
(c) "Finding Thebes and Palmyra."
(d) "Leaving all the past behind."

Short Answer Questions

1. Who instructed the world, according to Emerson?

2. How does Emerson say a cultivated man feels about his property?

3. Emerson states, "The way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new." What does he mean?

4. What is the attribute of the Supreme Cause according to Emerson?

5. What is antinomianism ("The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is ... mere antinomianism")?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 552 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample