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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is it that man no longer dares to say, according to Emerson?

2. What does Emerson recommend we do in our relationships with our family?

3. Emerson states, "The way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new." What does he mean?

4. Who instructed the world, according to Emerson?

5. Emerson compares society to what in saying "(it) moves onward, but the water of which it is composed does not"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Emerson's comparison of society to a joint-stock company by explaining what a joint-stock company is and how it works, as well as Emerson's ideas about society's investments and duties and what society receives for it's role in "the company."

Essay Topic 2

Explain the importance of self-perception in becoming self-reliant. Consider Emerson's example of the "sot" who wakes up in the duke's house washed and dressed, and explain Emerson's view of how what we feel about ourselves affects our autonomy.

Essay Topic 3

In paragraph 26, Emerson says, "A man or a company of men, plastic and permeable to principles ... by the law of nature must overpower and ride all cities, nations, kings, rich men, poets, who are not." Explain what Emerson means by this quote and give your own opinion on this subject, backing your opinion up with specific arguments.

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This section contains 320 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample