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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 NOT a concern the author attributes to the process of natural selection?

2. What emotion does the author NOT list as one that is likely to arise when one feels that meditation is not going well?

3. The first time the author attended a week-long meditation retreat, he was allowed to speak how many times?

4. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with what element?

5. What is the one thing that the author says natural selection "cares about" (3)?

Short Essay Questions

1. To whom does the author recommend a meditation practice?

2. What is the nature of the author's characterization of a meditation retreat?

3. Discuss the author's discussion of a wandering mind.

4. What effect is the author's choice of the word "delusions" intended to have on the reader?

5. Explain the concept of “beneffectance” (82) set forth by the psychologist Anthony Greenwald.

6. What is the author's view of the phenomenon of human feelings?

7. How does the author use the example of the scar experiment?

8. Discuss the tendency of humans to engage in self-inflation.

9. For what purpose does the author begin the entire narrative with a question?

10. What are the differences between concentration meditation and mindfulness meditation?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author's use of the first and second person point of view serve the author's purposes over the course of the book? Discuss how the author's choice of point of view helps to advance the treatment of at least three particular themes within the text.

Essay Topic 2

Examine how Robert Wright's book Buddhism is True invites the readers to learn particular lessons from Buddhist traditions and to apply those lessons to their own lives. How does he accomplish this goal and how does this goal relate to the overarching themes of the text?

Essay Topic 3

What messages does Robert Wright's book Buddhism is True send to the audience about the themes of isolation and outreach?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,466 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample