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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. James Thurber is said to have inspired what, in American essay prose?

2. When was Walter Benjamin Born?

3. What title did Thurber give to his humorous autobiographical essay?

4. When was Jose Luis Borges born?

5. Which famous author is mentioned in the essay "Once a Tramp, Always...?"

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the subject of Krim's "For My Brothers and Sisters in the Failure Business"? What feelings does Krim express in the essay?

2. What is Orwell's "Such, Such Were the Joys..." about? What complaints does Orwell have about the subject?

3. What is Robert Louis Stevenson best known for today?

4. What level of literary output did G. K. Chesterton achieve in his lifetime?

5. What two works of G. K. Chesterton are included in this volume? What are the subjects of these essays?

6. What is Ivan Turgenev's opinion of capital punishment? How did Turgenev believe servants should be treated?

7. How does Seymour Krim's life compare to Mary McCarthy's? How did Krim's childhood impact his writing?

8. Describe Walter Benjamin's unfortunate end. How does his essay "Unpacking My Library" relate to this tragic end?

9. What subject dominated the writings of George Orwell? Name three specific things George Orwell wrote about.

10. What kind of literature did Virginia Woolf write? What was a common focus that united her work?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Big events are the topic of James Baldwin's "Notes on a Native Son" and Richard Rodriguez's "Late Victorians."

A) How does each man relate the big events happening around them to his own personal experience? Compare each man's approach.

B) Compare and contrast the significance, as each man sees it, of the event taking place. Why do they believe they are witnessing events that are important to document?

Essay Topic 2

Annie Dillard utilizes an unusual writing style in her work.

A) Analyze "Seeing." What are the features of Dillard's writing style? What makes this style unusual?

B) How might Dillard's writing style relate to her view of the world? Why is she using this style? And why is it appropriate for the content of her essay?

Essay Topic 3

Sei Shonagon in "Hateful Things" and William Hazlitt in "On the Pleasure of Hating" both talk about the nature of hatred.

A) Is hate a healthy emotion, according to either author? Compare their views on the healthiness of hate.

B) What types of things are hated by each author? Are there more useful things than others to hate? What types of things might be too insignificant to hate?

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