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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 is a hobgoblin?
(a) A superficial object.
(b) An apparent danger.
(c) A misinterpretation.
(d) An imaginary creature.

2. What does Emerson say boys don't worry about?
(a) Their consciousness.
(b) What others think.
(c) Being genuine.
(d) Consequences.

3. What does Emerson call "...pretty oracles nature yields us..." when talking about examples of trusting oneself?
(a) The character of children.
(b) The face and behavior of children.
(c) The actions of children.
(d) The hearts of children.

4. Which of the following did Emerson NOT say by name is misunderstood?
(a) Luther
(b) Socrates
(c) Jesus
(d) Plato

5. Who does Emerson make an example of when talking about living according to his recommendations?
(a) Great men.
(b) Minors and invalids.
(c) Great artists.
(d) True geniuses.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Emerson say is a conspiracy against manhood?

2. What does Emerson claim is the virtue "in most request"?

3. How does Emerson say adults feel in looking into the faces of children?

4. What does Emerson say causes a man to come to the conviction that "...envy is ignorance"?

5. What kind of expression does Emerson say that we begin to acquire with conformity?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What does Emerson mean in saying, "Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned to you."?

3. Emerson states in paragraph 3 that "We are now men." What does he insist that we must do?

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

5. What does Emerson mean when he states in paragraph 15: "No man can violate his nature. All the sallies of his will are rounded in by the law of his being."?

6. In paragraph 21, Emerson begins an explanation of the "reason of self-trust." Explain very briefly the question he is asking and the answer he finds.

7. Explain Emerson's comparison in paragraph 15 of a character to an acrostic.

8. What does Emerson say in paragraph 29 about others having the power to annoy us?

9. What does Emerson say about strength in numbers?

10. Emerson explains in paragraph 8 why he believes men "do what is called a good action." Describe his opinion on this subject.

(see the answer keys)

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