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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 did Emerson originally propose in his philosophy?

2. What does modern man hope for, in spite of industrialism?

3. What would men of understanding provide in Emerson's vision?

4. What contradiction does Marx say is Melville's true theme in Moby Dick?

5. What skill did Twain idealize?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Marx describe modern man's relationship with the pastoral ideal?

2. What was John Orvis' reaction to industrialism?

3. What is the future of the pastoral ideal in Marx's view at the end of the epilogue?

4. What was Mark Twain's stance on technology and nature in Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court?

5. What does Marx say the ship Pequod symbolizes in Melville's Moby Dick?

6. What is the 'Garden of Ashes' a reference to?

7. What is Ishmael's relationship with Ahab, in Melville's Moby Dick?

8. What critique did Carlyle make of industrialism?

9. What is complex pastoral ideology, and where does Marx see it in evidence?

10. How would you describe the genre shift at the end of 'The Machine in the Garden'?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Bible is frequently cited as a source for the colonists' belief that they had reached a promised land where they had to have dominion and make a city on the hill, a garden out of the wilderness. Trace one biblical imperative through a few works of pastoral ideal. How does the biblical idea express itself in different works?

Essay Topic 2

What part of human nature are people like Shakespeare's Gonzalo or Thoreau or Huckleberry Finn trying to escape from in nature? Where in pastoral literature is that trait accounted for?

Essay Topic 3

How did the frontier resolve the tension between pastoralism and industrialism? How did it make the tension worse?

(see the answer keys)

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