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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. How can the writings of H. L. Mencken BEST be described?

2. What other artistic skill did James Thurber have, in addition to writing?

3. What is the subject of "Such, Such Were the Joys..."?

4. Before attempting personal essays, what kind of writer was Seymour Krim?

5. Robert Louis Stevenson is today best known for what type of writings?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. M.F.K. Fisher is known for writing primarily about what subject? Beyond this subject, what biographical details has she confronted in her writing?

3. What tone is Max Beerbohm famous for in his essays?

4. Describe the important events in Lu Hsun's life that impacted his personal essays.

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

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

7. Under what circumstances are Lu Hsun's "This Tool is Life" and "Death" written? What are the subjects of these essays?

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

9. What is the subject of E.B. White's "Once More to the Lake"? What is the message White relays about the state of the lake?

10. What is Jose Luis Borges' perspective on his own increasing blindness, as revealed in his essay "Blindness?"

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Michel de Montaigne speaks about the nature of reading and writing in his essays "Of Books" and "On Some Verses of Virgil."

A) What is Montaigne's philosophy of education? What does it mean to acquire and have an education? How does level of education separate people?

B) What is Montaigne's philosophy in regards to borrowing from other sources, including classical authors. Why does he do this borrowing?

Essay Topic 2

Journeying is the topic of Henry David Thoreau's "Walking" and William Hazlitt's "On Going a Journey."

A) What is the nature of the "journey" each man takes? Is the journey physical, spiritual, philosophical?

B) How might each man's journey be applied to larger life issues?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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