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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 phenomenon can humans have no experience of?

2. What should be the response to subterfuge?

3. What temptation does Camus suggest is hardest to overcome?

4. What information do we have about Sisyphus in the underworld?

5. What would be a synonym for the phrase 'fecund rumination' (p. 93 of the Penguin Edition)?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Camus wonder if an absurd work of art is truly possible?

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

3. How does Camus account for the promiscuity of don Juan?

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

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

6. What does Camus say is tiresome about the human heart (p. 115 of the Penguin edition)?

7. According to the quotation from Nietzsche, what vital function is performed by art?

8. What technique of Kafka's does Camus posit as the reason for the unity in that writer's work?

9. According to Camus, what is the one serious problem for philosophy?

10. In what ways is Sisyphus a rebel?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you explain the ways in which having a personal philosophy benefits the individual. You might like to consider how having a philosophy provides a strong rationale for life choices and actions. You might also consider the effects, for society, of multiple philosophies.

Essay Topic 2

Account for Camus' interest in the work of Russian writer Dostoevsly. For what reasons does Camus choose to refer frequently to this novelist? To what extent is an appreciation of Dostoevsky required to understand Camus' position on The Absurd?

Essay Topic 3

Viewing this collection of Albert Camus' essays as a whole, how would you assess their importance in relation to current attitudes to the meaning of life, non-violence and conservation. This essay is a high-order task. You will need to demonstrate your deep understanding of the work you have studied. In preparation, you should review and reflect upon the central issues dealt with in Camus' work and check that you thoroughly understand his continual reference to the myths and philosophy of Ancient Greece.

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