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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. What temptation does Camus suggest is hardest to overcome?
(a) The temptation to explain.
(b) The temptation to love.
(c) The temptation to be absurdy sentimental.
(d) The temptation to commit suicide.

2. What is astonishing about eternal values?
(a) That they exist at all.
(b) The very fact that they exist without reference to God.
(c) They survive wars and other conflicts.
(d) They transcend cultural factors.

3. What kind of thought is involved in the absurd?
(a) Rational.
(b) Lateral.
(c) Contradictory.
(d) Creative.

4. In what way is a modern worker similar to Sisyphus?
(a) The tasks they have to do are too hard for them.
(b) The worker spends every day at the same tasks.
(c) The worker is a slave like Sisyphus.
(d) The worker is forbidden to innovate.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is ridiculous about the writer who emulated Peregrinos?

2. What comment does Camus make concerning suffering?

3. What would be a synonym for the phrase 'fecund rumination' (p. 93 of the Penguin Edition)?

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

5. Who is the hero of Metamorphosis?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does humanity need to do in order to understand the world?

2. According to Camus, what is the one serious problem for philosophy?

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

4. How does Camus differ from many other commentators when considering the work of Kafka?

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

6. In an absurd universe, are all actions permitted?

7. How does Camus describe the Church's treatment of heretics?

8. What is Camus' basic criticism of phenomenology?

9. What does Camus say is tiresome about the human heart (p. 115 of the Penguin edition)?

10. What technique of Kafka's does Camus posit as the reason for the unity in that writer's work?

(see the answer keys)

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