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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. In Chapter 2, Brooks points out that the female orgasm is what type of process?

2. At the end of Chapter 5, what regular event is a constant trauma in Harold's life?

3. What is the first thing Ms. Taylor tells Harold to do to prepare for his paper?

4. According to James LeDoux in Chapter 1, what is the relationship of the conscious mind to emotion?

5. According to Brooks in Chapter 1, everyone likes to believe that he/she is what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What trauma does Harold experience at the end of Chapter 5?

2. According to Brooks in the introduction, why are Harold and Erica so successful?

3. How does Brooks describe the day-to-day life of the Composure Class?

4. What is Brooks' stated political reason for writing "The Social Animal"?

5. Describe Ms. Taylor.

6. What wisdom about teaching teenagers does Ms. Taylor possess?

7. What does Damasio determine about living without emotion in Chapter 1?

8. According to Brooks, what separates us from other animals?

9. Why does Timothy Wilson think that the unconscious mind does the majority of the work in thinking?

10. How does Ms. Taylor shape Harold's interest in the classical world?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about Erica's consulting firm. What compels her to start her own business, and what understanding of business and humanity does she bring to it? Discuss the path to success she has, and what role Harold plays in this success. How does her business grow, and how does it suffer as a result of the Great Recession? What personal toll does the death of her company have on Erica?

Essay Topic 2

Much of the latter half of "The Social Animal" is dedicated to the marriage between Harold and Erica. Write an essay charting the trajectory of this marriage. What attracts Erica to Harold and vice versa? Discuss the conflict that nearly tears them apart and how the two manage to make the marriage work? What is the state of the marriage in the last year of their lives?

Essay Topic 3

In "The Social Animal", David Brooks makes definite policy arguments, informed by the circumstances of Harold and Erica's lives. Write a two-part essay about these policy proposals and their connection to the narrative:

Part 1) Discuss Erica's experience at Intercom. What issues do Erica and Raymond discover while they work there? What policy proposals do they make to the investors? How does this narrative indicate policy proposals Brooks would make regarding private industry?

Part 2) What conclusions does Harold come to while working at a Washington think tank? How do these proposals reflect his personal experience? What do these proposals seem to bear in mind about human nature that current public policy does not?

(see the answer keys)

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