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

2. When was Junichiro Tanizaki born?

3. When was Jose Luis Borges born?

4. What did George Orwell renounce, along with his former life?

5. Who wrote "For My Brothers and Sisters in the Failure Business?"

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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 tone does Mary McCarthy use in "My Confession?" How does she approach herself as well as the subjects of her essays?

9. What views is Henry David Thoreau well known for? How did he believe one should live one's life?

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

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

"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

"Essays in Idleness" by Kenko and "An Apology for Idlers" by Robert Louis Stevenson provide musings on idleness.

A) How does each author view idleness? Can idleness be valuable? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being idle?

B) Compare the forms of each essay. Kenko wrote a journal, while Stevenson is offering an "apology." How does form relate to content in each case?

(see the answer keys)

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