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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. How does Richardson characterize Emerson's feeling about the essay "The Poet?"

2. What was Emerson's hobby?

3. How does Richardson characterize Sufism?

4. What theme does Richardson say Emerson began to write about as he turned forty?

5. What began to appear in America as a result of Charles Fourier's work?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Emerson's talk in Dartmouth like?

2. What was the significance of Emerson's first daughter's name?

3. Describe Emerson's son's death and its effect on him.

4. How did Emerson balance writing and editing?

5. What does Richardson say was Emerson's last characteristic book?

6. In what ways did Emerson differ from his friends' opinions?

7. How does Richardson characterize the importance of Emerson's friendships after his return from Europe?

8. What was Emerson's relationship with "The Dial?"

9. To what use does Emerson put great men in Representative Men?

10. How does Richardson describe Emerson's friendship with Thoreau after returning from England?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What kind of writer was Ralph Waldo Emerson? Was he a poet, or a religious writer, or a writer of some other sort? Define your terms and make a case based on the text.

Essay Topic 2

Emerson is famous for his belief in the idea that people are guided by inner lights. In what instances did Emerson act on this belief most effectively? How do his actions show us his philosophy, or is it in his writing that we see this most? (In which case, how do we understand the difference between the work and the man?)

Essay Topic 3

Are there aspects of Emerson's personality that Richardson overlooks or underplays? Make a case that Richardson has misrepresented Emerson in some way. What other Emersons do you think there might be, whose stories are still waiting to be told? Use the text for evidence, and explain your hunch.

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