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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. Boorstin begins Chapter 5 - Section II discussing the differences between "ideal-thinking" and what?

2. Boorstin writes that the amount of dissociation has become so absolute that what no longer feels real?

3. What is the third characteristic of the image, according to Boorstin?

4. What word does Boorstin suggest we created out of the need to express the specialness of that which is real, in Chapter 6 - Section III?

5. Boorstin claims that in the effort to make art and literature accessible to all, these forms of expression were what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the impact of Muzak, according to Boorstin?

2. What is the first aspect of "successful advertising" described by Boorstin? What example does he provide?

3. What changes to the printing industry does Boorstin describe in Chapter 4 - Section I?

4. What is Boorstin's subject in Chapter 6 - Section IV? How is the effect discussed defined?

5. How does Boorstin view the impact of advertising on the American psyche?

6. What does Boorstin assert are the greatest challenges for America and our relationship to the rest of the world?

7. What does Boorstin believe is responsible for the mass production of art? What effect does this cause?

8. What does Boorstin write of the evolution of linguistics and the pseudo-event in Chapter 6 - Section III?

9. What is the fourth aspect of the image, according to Boorstin in Chapter 5 - Section I?

10. What is the second aspect of "successful advertising" described by Boorstin? How is it defined?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Boorstin posits that there are two main "extravagant expectations" that Americans hold. What are these and what are examples of each?

Essay Topic 2

Describe Adolph Hitler's discussion of propaganda in Mein Kampf. How did Hitler implement this technique in order to gain control in Germany?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the impact of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph McCarthy on the pseudo-event in American politics.

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