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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Camus, what is tiresome about the human attitude to fate?
(a) It is unrealistic.
(b) We take credit for happiness, but blame fate for what crushes us.
(c) It hasn't changed in a thousand years.
(d) It tends to make us inactive.

2. Why did the gods view Sisyphus' punishment as particularly dreadful?
(a) It involved futile and hopeless labor.
(b) It was unfair relative to his crime.
(c) It involved immense pain.
(d) They saw their mistake but were unable to change things.

3. According to Camus, what is the most obvious symbol in The Trial?
(a) Shame.
(b) Naturalness.
(c) A knife.
(d) An insect.

4. What does Oedipus' remark imply?
(a) That fate is decided prior to birth.
(b) That fate is a human matter, to be settled among men.
(c) That in certain circumstances, you might negotiate with the gods.
(d) That fate is cruel and will defeat you despite your pure nature.

5. What should be the response to subterfuge?
(a) We should turn away from it.
(b) We should be suspicious of it.
(c) We should turn to it in hope.
(d) We should admire it for its inventiveness.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is indicated when melancholy arises in the human heart?

2. How does Camus see Sisyphus vis-a-vis his fate?

3. How does a man define himself?

4. What attitude can overcome all fate?

5. What was Sisyphus' attitude to the gods?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Camus wonder if an absurd work of art is truly possible?

2. Why is the fame of a writer likely to endure and that of an actor not to do so?

3. In mentioning the Diary (p. 100 of the Penguin edition), to what does Camus draw attention?

4. What were Sisyphus's sins against the gods, for which he was punished?

5. Why is Sisyphus completely appropriate as the absurd hero?

6. What important feature of Dostoevsky's work does Camus explore in the section entitled 'Kirilov'?

7. How does Camus view the novel as an artistic endeavor?

8. What is particularly interesting and unusual about Sisyphus and his paradoxical happiness in his fate?

9. What is The Trial about?

10. What does Nietzsche mean when he says 'Great problems are in the street'?

(see the answer keys)

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