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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. What was Sisyphus' attitude to the gods?
(a) He viewed them with horror and distrust.
(b) He worshipped them and wanted to be a god, too.
(c) He was insanely jealous of them.
(d) He scorned them.

2. Why are European cemeteries hideous?
(a) They are badly planned.
(b) They are not maintained properly.
(c) Only poor art-work and sculpture is used.
(d) People beautify what they love, not what they hate--and they hate death.

3. What quality does Camus call 'the fatal evasion'?
(a) Hope.
(b) Mendacity.
(c) Despair.
(d) Faith.

4. What is the hero's great fear following his transformation?
(a) His boss' anger.
(b) His father's anger.
(c) His mother's tears.
(d) That his girlfriend will find out.

5. Which philosopher claims that anxiety is at the source of everything?
(a) Sartre.
(b) Aristotle.
(c) Heidegger.
(d) St. Augustine.

Short Answer Questions

1. What should be the response to subterfuge?

2. What is the most harrowing passion of all?

3. What technique is employed by philosophical novelists?

4. What would make man feel alienated in the universe?

5. How does Camus summarize the actor's art?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were Sisyphus's sins against the gods, for which he was punished?

2. What, for humanity, are the consequences of living in a world stripped of illusion?

3. In what ways is Sisyphus a rebel?

4. Why is the fame of a writer likely to endure and that of an actor not to do so?

5. How does Camus differ from many other commentators when considering the work of Kafka?

6. What is Camus' attitude to Galileo?

7. In an absurd universe, are all actions permitted?

8. How did Sisyphus attempt to test his wife's love?

9. What is The Trial about?

10. What important feature of Dostoevsky's work does Camus explore in the section entitled 'Kirilov'?

(see the answer keys)

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