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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. As far as man's preferences in Western art and literature, what aspect does Milosz refer to?

2. According to Witkiewicz, what role does religion play in modern society?

3. Dialectical materialism appeals to the Eastern man because it is, in Milosz's term, what?

4. The most difficult thing for a man of the New Faith to conquer, according to Milosz, is his feeling of what?

5. According to Milosz, nations which have recently come under communist rule feel excitement at first, and then feel what emotion?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the Eastern communist often call the West stupid?

2. Why does man find such joy in the "collective warmth" of which Milosz speaks?

3. What advantages does the Center gain with the idea of "cosmopolitanism"?

4. Why does aesthetic Ketman flourish, when nothing of the sort is necessary in other countries?

5. What is the difference between Eastern and Western Communists?

6. What is communism's goal for the relationship between the present and the past?

7. The East uses talented artists to their full ability, yet sometimes with mediocre results. Why does this happen?

8. .How did Alpha become a more religious writer when he turned away from Christianity?

9. When the Nazis invaded Warsaw, every man quickly changed his view of the world. Rather than reporting a corpse lying in the gutter, he passes quietly on. What does this say about man's state of mind then?

10. How does Alpha's hunger for purity and strong heroic characters prepare the way for the New Faith? Could he have gone any other way?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Milosz repeatedly returns to the idea that religion is dead. Is this true? If so, how is it replaced in modern society? Keep in mind his argument that man craves the mysterious, and so religion is necessarily replaced.

Essay Topic 2

Why is art outside the public mind important? Milosz says that when man thinks only in the collective body, he can no longer think other than what is necessary. In other words, personal observations and thoughts are cut off. Why, then, does he place such importance on creating art other than what is strictly necessary?

Essay Topic 3

Milosz called Beta's war stories terrifying because they were told simply and truthfully, almost brutally. How is it possible to tell such stories with so little emotion? To what degree is empathy a necessary quality of stories? Is it possible for the reader, removed by many decades and a culture, to experience a similar lack of sympathy?

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