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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On what subject is Sei Shonagon particularly frank?
(a) Her hatred for foreigners.
(b) Bedroom behavior.
(c) Her disease.
(d) The amount of her personal wealth.

2. What is ironic about the Montaigne essay title, "Of a Monstrous Child?"?
(a) The child talked about is in fact saintly and kind.
(b) Montaigne is obliquely refer to gluttony, stating that it is born "of a monstrous child."
(c) The "monster" is a man who only behaves like a child.
(d) Montaigne is in fact arguing that nothing is "monstrous" by nature.

3. What does Montaigne conclude in "Of a Monstrous Child?"
(a) Doctors are nothing but charlatans and quacks.
(b) Deformed babies should be killed at birth.
(c) Towns should pursue an "eye for eye" system of justice.
(d) Nothing is contrary to nature; everything is natural.

4. Seneca the Younger adheres to which school of philosophy?
(a) Phenomenology.
(b) Nihilism.
(c) Stoicism.
(d) Agrarianism.

5. What does a woman's level of attachment to a man depend upon, according to Sei Shonagon?
(a) The way the man takes his leave of the woman.
(b) The way a man smells.
(c) The quality of gifts the man gives the woman.
(d) The elegance with which a man talks to the woman.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who wrote "Nicolini and the Lions?"

2. Where does Montaigne retire to study and write?

3. Ou-Yank Hsiu is considered one of eight what?

4. What is unusual about Montaigne's first book, as opposed to any books thereafter?

5. What accounts for the lack of structure in Montaigne's writing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What caused Michel de Montaigne to start writing?

2. What is "On Noise" about? What does Seneca advise?

3. How does Montaigne view human nature?

4. What is dealt with by Kenko in his essay "Essays in Idleness?"

5. What is the subject of "Pleasure Boat Studio?"

6. What is the subject of Montaigne's "Of Books?"

7. What is Seneca's philosophical background? Why is that background problematic?

8. What is the subject of Richard Steele's "Twenty-four Hours in London"? What point does Steele make in the story?

9. What is the tone of Joseph Addison's "Nicolini and the Lions?" What details of the story account for this tone?

10. What accounts for Maria Edgeworth's nontraditional views of male/female relationships? How are these views represented in "An Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification"?

(see the answer keys)

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