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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why are women willing to repeat childbirth, in Folly's opinion?
(a) Love.
(b) Forgetfulness.
(c) Desire to please her husband.
(d) Maternal instinct.

2. Whom did Erasmus make the narrator of his book?
(a) Virgil.
(b) Folly.
(c) More.
(d) The pope.

3. Who are the two gods in Folly's household?
(a) Zeus and Theseus.
(b) Zeus and Mars.
(c) Mirth and Longevity.
(d) Revelry and Sound Sleep.

4. Folly is in poor repute even amongst whom?
(a) The greatest fools.
(b) The learned.
(c) The noblemen.
(d) Madmen.

5. Because Folly dispenses every benefit to all alike, what does she think she should be named?
(a) "Alpha" of all gods.
(b) "Benefactor" of all men.
(c) "Goddess Divine."
(d) "Fountain of Blessings"

6. Which wise man was driven to drink hemlock because of wisdom?
(a) Aristotle.
(b) Augustine.
(c) Plato.
(d) Socrates.

7. What does Folly say that the stoics degrade in public?
(a) Friendship.
(b) Wisdom.
(c) Pleasure.
(d) Sophistry.

8. In Folly's opinion, what develops prudence?
(a) Flattery.
(b) Experience.
(c) Hope.
(d) Wisdom.

9. To what does Folly recall the elderly?
(a) Wisdom.
(b) Childhood.
(c) Middle Age.
(d) Fantasies.

10. Folly is the true bestower of what?
(a) Charm.
(b) Beauty.
(c) Good things.
(d) Long life.

11. Folly claims that all emotions belong to whom?
(a) Folly.
(b) Self-love.
(c) Venus.
(d) Patience.

12. Through ignorance, thoughtlessness, and forgetfulness, what effect does Folly have on man?
(a) Shame and infamy.
(b) Apathy.
(c) Reluctance to leave life.
(d) Desire to leave earth.

13. What happens when Folly begins addressing the crowd?
(a) They start jeering.
(b) They become cheerful.
(c) They become mad.
(d) They fall asleep.

14. Which two nymphs nursed Folly?
(a) Drunkenness and Ignorance.
(b) Melancholy and Wistfulness.
(c) Flattery and Innocence.
(d) Drunkennes and Debauchery.

15. According to Folly, to whom does life owe its beginning?
(a) Pallas.
(b) God.
(c) Folly.
(d) Jupiter.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who said, "Happy the states where either philosophers are kings or kings are philosophers"?

2. Folly dresses in unaccustomed garb because she is imitating whom?

3. What calmed a violent Roman mob?

4. Who speaks at the beginning of The Praise of Folly?

5. Who considers themselves gods on earth if they can use Greek words in their speeches?

(see the answer keys)

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