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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. What refers to the process or fact of personally observing, encountering, or undergoing something?

2. In Chapter 6 - Section I, Boorstin suggests that America return to its ____ and cease communicating with the rest of the world in image.

3. Boorstin writes in Chapter 5 that "God himself becomes not a power but" what?

4. Boorstin begins Chapter 5 - Section II discussing the differences between "ideal-thinking" and what?

5. When was Publishers' Weekly first published?

Short Essay Questions

1. What shift in the American psyche does Boorstin describe in Chapter 6 - Section I?

2. What does Boorstin suggest was the impact of Reader's Digest on the populace? What is Reader's Digest?

3. What does Boorstin write of the evolution of linguistics and the pseudo-event in Chapter 6 - Section III?

4. What is the second aspect of "successful advertising" described by Boorstin? How is it defined?

5. How does Boorstin define movies as a pseudo-event?

6. How does Boorstin view the impact of advertising on the American psyche?

7. How does Boorstin compare domestic and foreign issues in Chapter 6 - Section III?

8. What is Boorstin's subject in Chapter 6 - Section IV? How is the effect discussed defined?

9. What is the first aspect of "successful advertising" described by Boorstin? What example does he provide?

10. What changes took place in the binding industry for printmaking? What effect did this have?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the impact of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph McCarthy on the pseudo-event in American politics.

Essay Topic 2

How are pseudo-events distinguished from propaganda? What is the purpose of each? What is the effect of each?

Essay Topic 3

How does Boorstin define the term "celebrity"? What impact did this definition have on scholars and the American public? How and to whom does this definition apply today?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 801 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample