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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. Photographs do not create ___________ but they reinforce existing morality, according to Sontag.

2. What is NOT one of the ways that surrealism is described by Sontag in this particular chapter?

3. The surrealist movement courts _________ and incongruous juxtaposition in its use.

4. The art of taking documentary photographs instead of helping a situation is a tacit ____________ that whatever is going on should keep on happening.

5. The cave allegory speaks of __________ chained to a wall within the story itself.

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Steichen thus do with his photographs in terms of creating importance with the subject of the picture?

2. How does surrealism look at wealth, which is the same way that photography seems to look at wealth?

3. How might the surrealist art movement be described, according to Sontag in this chapter?

4. What does Susan Sontag suggest that photography has made society do in relation to reality?

5. What is the significance of the title of this particular chapter of this Susan Sontag book?

6. How are photographs usually held as definitive evidence in the world, according to Sontag?

7. What kind of art does Sontag believe photography has become, according to the text in this chapter?

8. What was Whitman's cultural and social influence, coined Whitmanesque, according to the text?

9. What did Edward Steichen photograph in order to show that objects aren't always as simple as they appear?

10. What did the Farm Service Administration effectively show about the power of photography?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Photographs can be made to speak with the help of captions beside them, but are these captions always necessary?

Part 1: Why do you think it's necessary to include captions with photographs?

Part 2: How do you think the photograph is changed by the introduction of captions?

Part 3: Do you think captions are necessary to include with pictures? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

The Farm Security Administration once did a photography project which sought to capture the 'common' man

Part 1: How do you define the idea of a common man? Is this definable?

Part 2: Why is it important to document that image of a common man? Or isn't it?

Part 3: How can images of what is common change the way the world works?

Essay Topic 3

Sontag makes a bold supposition that some artists create their works only to be photographed.

Part 1: Do you think an artist would only create something in order to get its picture taken?

Part 2: Why do you think artists create their pieces to begin with?

Part 3: Do you agree with Sontag's idea? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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