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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. Whom does Emerson attack in "The Fugitive Slave Law"?

2. Where did Thoreau live?

3. What is the first poem in the collection "Poetry"?

4. What kind of nature does Emerson say the farmer has?

5. What was the main argument in favor of the Fugitive Slave Law?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain Emancipation Day, which was the inspiration for "Emancipation in the British West Indies".

2. How does Emerson say a truly clever man accumulates wealth? What examples does Emerson give?

3. How are humans like plants, according to "Culture"?

4. Explain the relationship between Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

5. In "Abraham Lincoln", what does Emerson say about Abraham Lincoln, particularly in regard to his presidency?

6. How does Emerson describe the English as a people?

7. What significance does "Walden" have to Emerson?

8. Why does Emerson call the farmer the "continuous benefactor" of mankind in "Farming"?

9. What example does Emerson give in "Thoreau" of Thoreau's individualism?

10. According to "Napoleon; or, the Man of the World", what evidence is there that Napoleon was a genius?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Emerson's view of the rite of communion in Christianity. Include the Biblical evidence he uses in his essay, "The Lord's Supper", to support your claims.

Essay Topic 2

Explain Emerson's view of the fine arts, focusing on art and poetry.

Essay Topic 3

Explain transcendentalism, focusing on Emerson's expressions of it in "Selected Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson".

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This section contains 670 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample