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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Emerson say he has difficulty detecting when people "maintain a dead church"?
(a) The precise man one is.
(b) The precise source of one's conviction.
(c) The precise nature of one's beliefs.
(d) The precise tone of one's character.

2. Why does Emerson say a character is "like an acrostic"?
(a) Trying to understand one's character can be fun.
(b) Human character is ever-changing.
(c) Human character is puzzling.
(d) No matter how you read it, it always spells the same thing.

3. Who does Emerson say the youth speaks forcefully to?
(a) Women.
(b) Seniors.
(c) Children.
(d) Their contemporaries.

4. What does Emerson say the muscles are moved by in his discussion of company?
(a) The will of others.
(b) A low usurping willfulness.
(c) A most disagreeable sensation.
(d) Our own will alone.

5. What does Emerson say happens to the "voices which we hear in solitude" as we enter into the world?
(a) They become abstract.
(b) They are affected by others.
(c) They become louder and more powerful.
(d) They grow faint and inaudible.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Emerson call "...pretty oracles nature yields us..." when talking about examples of trusting oneself?

2. Why does Emerson say about children's minds?

3. What does Emerson say will happen if one does not put his heart into his work?

4. What does Emerson say "...is all that concerns..." him?

5. What does Emerson say he can anticipate if he knows your sect?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain Emerson's comparison of the white man to the New Zealander.

2. At the beginning of paragraph 9, Emerson states: "What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule ... may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness." What does he mean by that?

3. Explain Emerson's problem with "the phraseology of some old mouldered nation in another country" as detailed in paragraph 22.

4. What does Emerson say happens when a young man fails at his first endeavors? Describe what happens and what Emerson recommends.

5. At the beginning of paragraph 2, Emerson states: "There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that ... no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil." Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

6. Why does Emerson say in paragraph 26 that the world hates the fact that the soul becomes?

7. In paragraph 33, Emerson says, "We are become timorous, desponding whimperers." Explain what he means by this.

8. In paragraph 10, Emerson gives a long account of exactly why he objects to conformity. His objection relates to personal "force" and the perception of character. Can you explain this objection?

9. What does Emerson say about technological advancement?

10. What does Emerson say about involuntary perception (paragraph 21)?

(see the answer keys)

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