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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. How does Emerson claim we give men the power to annoy us?
(a) Through our friendliness.
(b) Through our dependence.
(c) Through our weakness.
(d) Through our curiosity.

5. Which artist does Emerson say "will create a house in which all these will find themselves fitted"?
(a) The American artist.
(b) Phidias.
(c) The self-reliant artist.
(d) Dante.

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

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

8. What does Emerson say you can "present every moment"?
(a) Your own gift.
(b) Yourself.
(c) Your art.
(d) Your will.

9. 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) Our power lives.
(c) Our power is not prideful.
(d) We do not hope for power, we have power.

10. How does Emerson describe perception?
(a) Perception is different for each person.
(b) Perception should be contradicted.
(c) Perception is as much a fact as the sun.
(d) Perception is something one chooses on one's own.

11. Which of the following examples does Emerson NOT name in conjunction with the attribute of the Supreme Cause?
(a) Farming.
(b) Commerce.
(c) Eloquence.
(d) Whaling.

12. What does the soul perceive about Truth and Right in the state of having "life in yourself'?
(a) Their coexistence with passion.
(b) Their self-evidence.
(c) Their calming effect.
(d) Their self-existence.

13. When does Emerson claim power ceases?
(a) As soon as one rests.
(b) As soon as one gives power to others.
(c) When life has ceased.
(d) When we fail to use it.

14. Who said "To the persevering mortal ... the blessed Immortals are swift"?
(a) Caliph Ali.
(b) Bonduca.
(c) Zoroaster.
(d) Fletcher.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What do young men do if they fail in their first enterprises?

2. What does Emerson recommend we do in our relationships with our family?

3. Which system does Emerson accuse of fostering restlessness?

4. What do Alfred, Scanderbeg and Gustavus have in common?

5. What does Emerson say he likes "better than any preaching"?

(see the answer keys)

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