View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Delta would have fit well into what time period?

2. How much time did Beta spend in the concentration camp Auschwitz?

3. The last time Milosz saw Beta, how did the unassuming poet look?

4. As Chapter 8 briefly explains, how does the State regard the propertied class?

5. What was the result of this group created by Gamma and his friends?

Short Essay Questions

1. Eventually Delta's poems became something of a dream, unreal. How was this inevitable?

2. How was Delta able to play the game that the center demanded of him--and be better at it?

3. Milosz states that the goals of the workers are far different from those of the state. How is this so?

4. Beta saw life only in terms of society rather than in terms of individual man. How was this his downfall?

5. Milosz calls Beta's reaction to the concentration camp life sadistic. How is this true?

6. Milosz opens Chapter VI with a description of Vilna as it existed during his childhood. Is this simply to introduce Gamma or is there another reason?

7. Nearly six years of Nazi rule had radically changed people's ideas of private property. Did this help or harm the communist idea of common property?

8. Gamma did not even try to save his family when they were deported to Siberia. How is this a vivid example of the communist attitude toward individual lives?

9. How was Delta's poetry some of the most insightful work being written at the time?

10. How were Beta's stories a fitting insight into his nihilist worldview?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several people in The Captive Mind believe that life without religion, philosophy, and art is not worth living. Is this true? Are there necessary things which this list does not include or, conversely, is the list too long? Be sure to define the terms clearly (e.g., is art a painting hung on the wall, or is it the beauty found throughout the world?)

Essay Topic 2

Beta's stories portray man as an animal, barely held in check by the restraints of civilization. How is this demonstrated in Poland during World War II? Given the progression of Poland through capitalism, Nazism, and communism, was man's good or animal side stronger? Which one triumphed? Also, use examples from the book of people acting out of goodness.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,234 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample