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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 attitude can overcome all fate?

2. What is astonishing about eternal values?

3. In what way is a modern worker similar to Sisyphus?

4. How are myths given life?

5. In what ways are the thinker and the artist alike?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Why does Camus claim that there can be no experience of death?

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

5. How does Camus account for the promiscuity of don Juan?

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

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

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

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

10. What, for humanity, are the consequences of living in a world stripped of illusion?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

'Camus' use of Franz Kafka's work is particularly apt when we consider the idea of the absurd world.' Discuss the way Camus cites Kafka in the course of his exposition on the absurd. You will need to relate characters and incidents to ideas expressed by Camus. You will also need to consider implications of those ideas. It is important, too, to include any necessary critique of the way Camus has referred to Kafka's work.

Essay Topic 2

'Philosophy is simultaneously important and unimportant.' Can you explain the apparent paradox in this statement? You should make close reference to Camus' absurdist beliefs as expounded in The Myth of Sisyphus. You might like to consider what other paradoxes appear in this work and discuss the possibility of these being resolved.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the idea that Camus' essay Summer in Algiers is a celebration of youth in North Africa. You will need to consider if this is so, or if the statement goes too far. Are Camus' comments and assessments positive? Are they biased? Are they balanced? What yardstick does Camus apply when making his observations?

(see the answer keys)

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