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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. Under what circumstances did Walter Benjamin die?

2. What illness did Virginia Woolf have to deal with at several times in her life?

3. What do Seymour Krim and Mary McCarthy have in common?

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

5. When was Junichiro Tanizaki born?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What is Junichiro Tanizaki's contribution to world literature? How has Tanizaki's writing style been characterized?

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

5. What is the subject of Junichiro Tanizaki's "In Praise of Shadows?" What hope does Tanizaki express at the end of the essay?

6. 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?

7. How did Virginia Woolf's personal background impact her work?

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

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

10. What style is James Thurber known for? What was a common theme in Thurber's writing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"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 2

Montaigne provides a number of views and personal opinions in the essays selected for the book.

A) What is Montaigne's view of human nature in general? Cite quotations from "Of Books" to support your assertion.

B) What is Montaigne's view of education? Cite quotations from "Of Books" and "On Some Verses of Virgil" to support your assertion.

C) What is Montaigne's view of abnormality, according to "Of a Monstrous Child"?

Essay Topic 3

Physical conditions are the subject of Seneca's "Asthma" and Jose Luis Borge's "Blindness."

A) How does each man confront his condition? What is each man's attitude?

B) Seneca's philosophy is said to be Stoic. How does Borge's philosophy, as revealed in "Blindness," compare to the Stoic philosophy?

(see the answer keys)

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