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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. Who is NOT one of the authors presented in the section about photography in the literary world?

2. Even though photographs are generally consistent, _________ tastes in photography exist and change over time.

3. The Chinese government denounced Antonioni's film as anti-Chinese and anti-___________.

4. ___________ often reveal beauty that is not normally seen, according to Sontag in this chapter.

5. Photography enjoyed a boost when the public learned that photographs could be ______________.

Short Essay Questions

1. What is difficult, if not impossible to do when it comes to looking at photographs, as opposed to looking at paintings?

2. What do cameras often reveal in the subject of the picture or in the object being photographed?

3. Why are photographs considered to be a superior form of recording information, even more so than writing?

4. What do photographs do to reality, according to this final chapter of the book as written by Sontag?

5. What do some philosophers - namely Balzac - have to say about the idea or the act of taking photographs?

6. In order to avoid the over-exposure of beautiful things, what becomes necessary in relation to beauty?

7. What does a photographic portrait not need to do, instead it can mingle documentation with artistic rendering?

8. What was the progression of photography in relation to its artistic status, according to this chapter?

9. Sontag makes a bold assertion in regards to photography and the work of some artists. What does she assert?

10. What do most claim about the intentions of photography, according to the long essays in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Poetry and photography are two pieces of art which are subject to interpretation. The author might have one intention, but the audience may find another.

Part 1: Why do you think photography is open to interpretation?

Part 2: Why do you think poetry is open to interpretation?

Part 3: Do you think poetry or photography is more open to interpretation? Why do you choose the answer you do?

Essay Topic 2

Diane Arbus took pictures of people in society who might be considered freaks, something Sontag seems to judge.

Part 1: How do you define the idea of 'freaks'?

Part 2: Do you think there is value in the Arbus pictures? Why or why not?

Part 3: Do you agree that those who are not 'normal' as defined by society are freaks? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Often, photographs are offered as evidence that something occurred at a certain time.

Part 1: Why do you think photographs are thought to be so definitive?

Part 2: How do you think photographs should be used in everyday life?

Part 3: Do you think something is real when you have a picture of it? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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