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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 does The Consolation of Philosophy explain?

2. What does Boorstin see in men making images of men?

3. What does Boorstin say is the difference between tragedy and comedy?

4. What does Boorstin say Paleolithic man discovered in making images?

5. What does Boorstin say man discovered in Section 24: The Birth of the Spectator?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Muslims differ from Greeks and Christians in their approach to making images?

2. How does Boorstin characterize Cervantes' contribution to imaginative literature?

3. How does Boorstin say the Japanese differ from Westerners in their architectural approach?

4. How does Boorstin characterize the Confucian teachings?

5. What did Moses add to the culture of imagination?

6. What does Boorstin mean when he says that theology was born in Greek philosophy?

7. How do Greek depictions compare with Egyptian symbols?

8. How does Boorstin describe the birth of hymns?

9. What explanation does Boorstin offer for the cave paintings of Altamira, Lascaux and Les Trois Freres?

10. How does Boorstin describe the difference between tragedy and comedy?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Defend or refute the proposition that in its evolution, modern art has given the individual the ability to become immortal through his self-expression. Use examples from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Would you recommend The Creators? For what purposes would you recommend The Creators, and what kinds of readers would you not recommend it? What book would you recommend that would cover the same material or provide the same emotional experience in a different way?

Essay Topic 3

From what perspective could the narrative described here--of an art that came to approximate the condition of lived individual experience--be described as a falling away into false life and pseudo-awareness? How else could this narrative be described? What would a person have to believe in order to make a different characterization than Boorstin makes?

(see the answer keys)

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