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. What did Emerson originally propose in his philosophy?

2. What 'sealed the fate' of American industrialism, according to Marx?

3. What would men of understanding provide in Emerson's vision?

4. What is the purpose of an epilogue?

5. What modern problem does Marx take as emblematic of man's treatment of nature?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the role of industry in Melville's Moby Dick?

2. What critique did Carlyle make of industrialism?

3. What is the 'Garden of Ashes' a reference to?

4. How did Emerson reconcile machines and nature?

5. What is complex pastoral ideology, and where does Marx see it in evidence?

6. What was John Orvis' reaction to industrialism?

7. How did Emerson react to industrialism?

8. How does Marx categorize modern man's attitude toward the pastoral ideal in terms of the authors he has analyzed?

9. What is the purpose of an epilogue?

10. How developed was the land at the end of the 18th century?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is there an essential pastoralism, or is each person's or culture's pastoralism unique to its own context? Does the similarity of symbols and associations apply in every time and case? Read one of the stories or novels Marx analyzes, to see how the pastoral themes might be unique to the individual work.

Essay Topic 2

From driving to National Parks, or seeing wildlife in zoos or managing environments for the sake of wildfires or endangered species, Americans seem to be able to reconcile a high level of science and industry with a high sense of nature and pristineness. What arts or cultural developments have allowed Americans to endure the paradoxes of their industrial lifestyles?

Essay Topic 3

Read the dialogue between Tityrus and Meliboeus in Virgil's Eclogues, and describe what makes American pastoralism uniquely American. Is pastoralism really an eternal theme in civilized culture, or is there a uniquely American strain to it?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 687 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample