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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was the official perception of "Emile"?
(a) Rousseau was encouraging readers to break the law.
(b) Rousseau was committing treason.
(c) Rousseau was being disobedient to the rulers of France.
(d) Rousseau was challenging common sense.

2. Against what does Rousseau warn teachers?
(a) Giving students too much freedom.
(b) Dishonesty with their students.
(c) Consorting with their students.
(d) Simplifying the truth.

3. What kind of approach does Rousseau advocate for parents when their children are hurt?
(a) Drastic approach: take the child to a doctor immediately.
(b) Moderate approach: let the child see that he will be all right.
(c) Hands-off approach: let the child fend for himself.
(d) Punitive approach: punish the child for getting hurt.

4. What kind of mother does Rousseau address himself to?
(a) Mothers who follow the rules.
(b) Mothers who think for themselves.
(c) Mothers who believe in God.
(d) Mothers who have traditions.

5. What does Rousseau say is the trouble with being attractive to women?
(a) Getting into debt.
(b) Being overwhelmed by strong emotions.
(c) Being hounded into actions one is not ready for.
(d) Making promises in love letters, which cannot be fulfilled.

6. What does Rousseau say Emile can say at the end of each day?
(a) I am stronger.
(b) I am less afraid.
(c) I know more.
(d) I have more.

7. What is the customary view of children, according to Rousseau?
(a) That they are angels.
(b) That they are weak.
(c) That they are devilish.
(d) That they are raw material.

8. What does Rousseau say is the danger of books?
(a) That they do not all use the same meanings for words.
(b) That they require one to read yet more books.
(c) That they will lead to false belief.
(d) That they will not educate the spirit.

9. What did Rousseau require in order to obtain Emile's submission at the end of the Early Childhood section?
(a) Resistance to the child's will.
(b) Physical force.
(c) Reasonable persuasion.
(d) Righteous anger.

10. What is Rousseau's focus in Chapter 1, Book 3?
(a) Weakness and strength.
(b) Innocence and experience.
(c) Knowledge and ignorance.
(d) Truth and falsehood.

11. What is most relevant in deciding how or whether to punish a child?
(a) The spiritual dangers of the issue.
(b) The circumstances and the context of the infraction.
(c) The temperaments of the parent and the child.
(d) The rule or law at issue.

12. What does Rousseau recommend mothers should give up?
(a) Foot binding.
(b) Books.
(c) Breastfeeding.
(d) Swaddling clothes.

13. What does Rousseau say a man should have learned in his first 25 years?
(a) How to use his time.
(b) How to work in a craft.
(c) How to manage his passions.
(d) How to defend himself.

14. Why does Rousseau say that children lack strength?
(a) Because they have not been fed well.
(b) Because they have been subjected to book learning.
(c) Because they have not exercised enough.
(d) Because they are compared with adults.

15. What trait is needed in tutors who are trying to win a student's submission?
(a) Love of virtue.
(b) Earnestness.
(c) Deceitfulness.
(d) Cleverness.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rousseau urge people to avoid?

2. What kind of clothing does Rousseau prefer for children?

3. What proportion of children reached adulthood in Rousseau's time?

4. Who rewarded Rousseau for writing "Emile"?

5. What kind of opinions does Rousseau seem to hold, as he talks about book learning?

(see the answer keys)

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