View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to Emerson, what is a faint reflection of proper manners?

2. Each person has his or her own vocation that can be discovered by ______.

3. What is the primary tool of the poet?

4. What view does Emerson take of human love in "Love"?

5. At what college did Emerson give "The American Scholar" as an address?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the categories Emerson divides the world into in his essay "Nature"?

2. What do the nominalists and realists each have on their sides, according to Emerson?

3. What is the benefit of friendship, according to "Friendship"? What is the irony in Emerson's essay?

4. How was Plato's dichotomy of the body and soul relevant to Emerson's time?

5. According to "The Poet", what is the effect of poets speaking the truth? How do poets speak the truth?

6. According to "Self-Reliance", what is the relationship between conformity and being a man?

7. According to "Compensation", how does nature maintain balance? How can one maintain balance on earth?

8. What does Emerson think of Plato, according to "Plato; or, the Philosopher"? What indicates this?

9. According to "Nature", what is the role of nature?

10. What two problems with communion does Emerson explain at the end of "The Lord's Supper"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the role of religion and faith in Emerson's writings.

Essay Topic 2

Explain Emerson's view of love, focusing on the spiritual love he describes in his essay, "Love".

Essay Topic 3

Explain Emerson's view of capitalism. How does this fit into his beliefs in transcendentalism?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 695 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample