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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. The travelers stay in cabins in Gardiner made by the owner who is a craftsman as evidenced by

2. Phaedrus gave up chasing the ghost of rationality and

3. When the Narrator found that the thread was stripped in the chain adjustment, he

4. The point at which Phaedrus gave up on Oriental wisdom was when a professor called the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

5. What does Chris want to do as Chapter 4 ends (their second night)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the last sentence of the chapter mean: "I am a pioneer now, looking onto a promised land."

2. How did Phaedrus stimulate students to think for themselves?

3. Summarize how Poincaré's ideas fit closely to Phaedrus' ideas--like two sides of a jigsaw puzzle.

4. The Narrator chose a trip with various types of terrain as the backdrop for this book on philosophy. Every description is in the book for a reason. What does the 11,000 foot mountain summit represent? What do the switchcbacks correspond to the thinking being done at that time? Do the paved roads represent something? If so, what? What does the shining wall across the misty harbor seem to denote?

5. How do we know that the Narrator has been on this road, in this town, or at this motel before?

6. What was the Narrator attempting to accomplish when he ferried the backpacks and when he re-packed the backpacks? Do you think he accomplished what he attempted?

7. How do the DeWeeses respond to seeing the Narrator again? What are their actions and reactions? What are their emotions and thoughts?

8. Chris' Indian friend's grandmother said that ghosts appear when someone has not been buried right. How does that relate to the discussions of the Narrator about Phaedrus? At what times and in what places does Phaedrus appear?

9. Based on what you have read through chapter 28, by way of predicting an outcome for the book, write a paragraph or two explaining a dream you think the Narrator will have near the end of the book.

10. What is a priori knowledge and how are time and space examples of a priori knowledge?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How can technology best be pursued and used to enrich human life rather than degrading humans? Give examples. How can technology be art? Can you think of some examples?

Essay Topic 2

What does the Narrator mean when he says "Quality is the point of common understanding between the classic and romantic worlds. . . A real understanding of Quality captures the System, tames it, and puts it to work for one's own personal use, while leaving one completely free to fulfill his inner destiny."

Essay Topic 3

The Narrator is in a sarcophagus in one part of the book (chapter 23). Earlier he had been in a large, white room. Both had a glass door with his family on the other side. In both cases, Chris wants him to open the door. Why could neither Chris nor his father open the door? What did the door symbolize? What was truly separating them? In one case, the Narrator tells Chris he will meet him at the top of the mountain, but in chapter 23, he says he will see him at the bottom of the ocean. What is the difference? Is there any progress between the two dreams?

(see the answer keys)

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