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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does a woman's level of attachment to a man depend upon, according to Sei Shonagon?

2. In what century did Sei Shonagon live?

3. What kind of family background did Montaigne come from?

4. Which famous author does Michel de Montaigne rely upon for several quotations in the final essay in the volume?

5. At which university did Abraham Cowley study?

Short Essay Questions

1. What caused Michel de Montaigne to start writing?

2. As expressed in "On Some Verses of Virgil," what does Montaigne have to say about the nature of the sexes?

3. What idea sparks Montaigne to write after his first book is a success?

4. What subjects are talked about in "On Some Verses of Virgil?"

5. To what extent were Charles Lamb's personal essays influenced by his family background? Describe that family background.

6. What is the biographical background necessary to understand "Consolation to His Wife" by Plutarch?

7. How does Montaigne view human nature?

8. What is the tone of Joseph Addison's "Nicolini and the Lions?" What details of the story account for this tone?

9. What is the subject of Abraham Cowley's "Of Greatness"? What point does Abraham Cowley make?

10. What personal details are included in Seneca's "Asthma"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Robert Louis Stevenson's "On Marriage" and Maria Edgeworth's "An Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification" both center on the marital relationship.

A) Compare the tone employed by each writer.

B) What is each author's philosophy of marriage? Is marriage something to be celebrated, mocked, or feared?

C) How might your determination from A) help inform you as to the position each person takes on marriage? How does tone relate to content in each author's case?

Essay Topic 2

"Hashish in Marseilles" by Walter Benjamin and "Under the Influence" by Scott Russell Sanders both speak about substance abuse.

A) How does Benjamin's attitude about substance compare to Sanders'? How might biographical details help to inform us about the formulation of these attitudes?

B) What does each man take away from the substance abuse they have experienced? What might their message for the reader be?

Essay Topic 3

Ambition is the topic of both Abraham Cowley's "Of Greatness" and Seymour Krim's "For My Brothers and Sisters in the Failure Business"?

A) Contrast the tone of each essay. What might tone reveal about the author's own state of mind?

B) What message does each author have the audience? What should the reader take away from the essay?

C) What advice might Cowley have for Krim?

(see the answer keys)

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