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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 illness did Eliot nurse her mother throughout?

2. What job does Brooks write that Marshall must have been devastated not to have gotten from Roosevelt?

3. Where was George Marshall born?

4. What significant civil rights event did Rustin help plan and execute?

5. Between which two ideals was Augustine caught even as a young boy, according to Brooks?

Short Essay Questions

1. What significant event in 1941 was A. Philip Randolph instrumental in organizing, but eventually called off?

2. What was the main social consequence of Eliot's relationship with Lewes?

3. What does Brooks imply is the impetus for Marshall's drive to succeed?

4. In Chapter 7, what does David Brooks say is the difference between self-control and love?

5. For Augustine, what did the stealing of the pears symbolize?

6. How did Virginia Woolf characterize Eliot's work?

7. What was Augustine's relationship with his mother like?

8. What crisis did Eliot write about concerning women's situation in society in her novel Middlemarch?

9. What kind of devotion dominated Eliot's teenage years?

10. What was the surprising outcome of Marshall's tense encounter with General Pershing in 1917?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay explaining why Brooks thinks moderation is a "generally misunderstood virtue" (69). Do you agree or disagree with Brooks' opinion on this matter?

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

Write an essay explaining the differences, as Brooks defines them, between vocation and career.

(see the answer keys)

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