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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 well-known war correspondent's work did the radio program Brooks describes in Chapter 1 feature?

2. What was Day fascinated with as an adolescent, according to Brooks?

3. What did Perkins name her daughter?

4. Which skills helped win Day a college scholarship?

5. In Chapter 4, what kind of job did Dorothy Day's father have?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 1, what trait does Brooks feel was more common in most people in the WWII-era than it is today?

2. How does Brooks define the so-called "Big Me" culture?

3. What did Viktor Frankl tell potential suicides in the concentration camp during WWII?

4. What two types of virtues does Brooks open the book by laying out the differences between?

5. What event in young Dwight Eisenhower's life prompted his mother to read him a Bible verse about conquering his own soul that had a great impact on his adult life?

6. How does Brooks describe Adam I in the Introduction?

7. What historic event happened when Dorothy Day was 8 years old?

8. What virtue does Brooks say is generally misunderstood in Chapter 4?

9. What were some of Ida Eishenhower's early life struggles?

10. What was a tactic Dwight Eisenhower used to manage his anger and emotions that involved writing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay explaining the specific actions and events from Dwight Eisenhower's life that demonstrate his ability to restrain and master his own emotions.

Essay Topic 2

How does the football player Joe Namath reflect what Brooks refers to at several points in the book as the ideals of the "Little Me"? Write an essay explaining your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Brooks repeatedly refers to Immanuel Kant's adage, "Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made" (11). Write an essay analyzing how this sentiment relates to the idea of self-awareness.

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