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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. Eco writes in "Sports Chatter," "On it and in it, the consumer civilization man actually" does what?

2. How old was St. Thomas Aquinas at his death?

3. What does Eco define as "the simplest narrative unit"?

4. When were the earliest American blue jeans made?

5. In "Language, Power, Force" Eco describes a lecture given by Roland Barthes on the subject of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What criticisms does Eco demonstrate over the theories of Hans Sedlmayr?

2. How does Eco propose that one must free oneself from the confines of language?

3. Whose lecture does Eco discuss in "Language, Power, Force"? Why?

4. What qualities must a movie present in order to attain cult status, according to Eco in "Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage"?

5. How does Eco define "motif"? What word does he choose to use instead?

6. How does Eco relate sports to culture and entertainment in "Sports Chatter"?

7. What location does Eco describe in "Two Families of Objects"?

8. What was the worst thing to ever happen to St. Thomas Aquinas, according to Eco in "In Praise of St. Thomas"?

9. How does semiotics assist in understanding language and communication, according to Eco?

10. What is Eco's principle statement in "Lady Barbara" and "Lumbar Support"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Eco use Superman as a metaphor for in Section I - Chapter 1? What is a "Fortress of Solitude"?

Essay Topic 2

Compare contemporary American culture with that of the Middle Ages. In what ways does Eco suggest we are similar? How are we different?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the actions of the Red Brigades and discusses how communication plays a role in revolution. How does the multinational arrangement change things?

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