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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 is affected by the institution of a social class?

2. What does Veblen say is the purpose of devout observances?

3. How does Veblen say people can move from the industrial class to the leisure class?

4. Under what heading does Veblen put sports and fighting and other manifestations of the predatory temperament?

5. What two classes does Veblen distinguish between?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do men and women of the industrial classes feel and react to pecuniary pressures?

2. How does Veblen describe the situation of modern women, the women of his time?

3. What temperament does Veblen say characterizes the leisure class, and how does the leisure class change?

4. How do lower-class delinquents manifest the fighting spirit?

5. How does one move from the industrial class to the leisure class?

6. How does Veblen's book reveal Darwin's influence?

7. How do men change over time according to Veblen?

8. How do sports demonstrate belief in luck, or semireligious sentiment?

9. How does the study of the classics and classical languages change over time?

10. How is education similar to the observance of devotional functions and magic?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe the role Darwinian thinking plays in "The Theory of the Leisure Class." Is Veblen simply applying Darwin's ideas to society, or is he using Darwin's ideas as tools to show things Darwin's theories would not have described?

Essay Topic 2

Who believes in the unseen hand, and how do people who believe in the unseen hand differ from those who do not?

Essay Topic 3

How American is "The Theory of the Leisure Class"? Is it descriptive of industrial economies generally, or is it limited to Veblen's American environment? How does he account for aristocratic or feudal culture or other European social systems?

(see the answer keys)

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