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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. Which effort does Emerson insist we obey?
(a) The Almighty effort.
(b) The Godly effort.
(c) The Divine effort.
(d) The Higher effort.

2. What does Emerson insist men carry themselves in the presence of?
(a) Societies and dead institutions.
(b) All opposition.
(c) Decent and well-spoken individuals.
(d) God.

3. What does Emerson suggest is required to withstand the "rage of the cultivated classes" and the "indignation of the people"?
(a) Decorous and prudent rage.
(b) The habit of magnanimity.
(c) A sad countenance.
(d) An unintelligent brute.

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

5. What is it that we put on in company according to Emerson?
(a) A forced smile.
(b) A new set of opinions.
(c) A feigned laugh.
(d) Our best dress.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Emerson say tendency does to variety of actions?

2. What does Emerson say happens to the "voices which we hear in solitude" as we enter into the world?

3. What are boys sure of in Emerson's example of how boys speak their mind?

4. Where does Emerson say it is easy to live after the world's opinion?

5. On what does Emerson say we will be advancing if we live as "guides, redeemers and benefactors"?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the end of paragraph 36, Emerson relates the story of Caratach in Fletcher's "Bonduca," who is "admonished to inquire the mind of the god Audate." In your own words, describe Caratach's response.

2. What does Emerson mean in paragraph 6 when he describes the voices we hear in solitude as "grown faint and inaudible as we enter into the world"?

3. Emerson makes an important point about who or what one will see along the way "in the hour of vision" in paragraph 25. What does he say?

4. 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?

5. What does Emerson mean in paragraph 17 when he says, "An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man."?

6. In paragraph 6, Emerson compares society to a joint-stock company. Explain this comparison.

7. 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?

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

9. What does Emerson say about sympathy in paragraph 37?

10. Why do other members of society "need" us to be consistent according to Emerson in paragraph 12?

(see the answer keys)

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