View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What standard does Veblen say guides people's behavior?

2. What aspect of culture was a condition for the development of a leisure class?

3. How does Veblen define conspicuous consumption?

4. Who performs the most vicarious consumption, according to Veblen?

5. Which employments were associated with a lower status?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the individual consumer think of his conspicuous waste?

2. What began with private ownership?

3. What is emulation, and how does it function in society?

4. How does Veblen define leisure?

5. How does the standard of wealth change over time?

6. How does the leisure class view work?

7. How did primitive societies divide the labor?

8. What is the relationship between the necessities of life and an individual's standard of living?

9. What is the purpose of leisure?

10. What do a man's possessions say about the man?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is Veblen critical of the leisure class, or is his work simply descriptive of their habits? Use the text and any social, biographical, or cultural research to define Veblen's feelings about the leisure class.

Essay Topic 2

How are women of the leisure class different from men? How are their roles and responsibilities different? How are they the same? Do women express traits of other classes besides the leisure class? If so, what are those traits.

Essay Topic 3

Is the belief in luck the same thing as religion in Veblen's view? Compare and contrast the two belief systems. Do they both have the same effect on society?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 768 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample