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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 personal problem does Harold begin having after he becomes romantically involved with Erica?

2. What does Erica think of the entrepreneur she meets at the Academy in Chapter 9?

3. As Erica makes her way through the Academy, she becomes what type of person?

4. Who introduces Erica to Harold?

5. Which of the following is not a step of human decision-making?

Short Essay Questions

1. What impresses Erica about Raymond during their lunches in Chapter 16?

2. What different trajectories do Harold and Erica's lives take in Chapter 15?

3. What did the marshmallow test predict about child development?

4. Describe Erica's experience at the consulting firm.

5. What traumatic event occurs to Erica during a tennis match in Chapter 8?

6. Describe the ideology of Rationalism.

7. In Chapter 9, what does Brooks say is often true ambitious individuals?

8. How does Brooks describe the relationship between the unconscious and the conscious mind in Chapter 15?

9. How do the founders of the Academy view poverty in America?

10. How does Erica come back from her explosion in Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In "The Social Animal", David Brooks makes definite policy arguments, informed by the circumstances of Harold and Erica's lives. Write a two-part essay about these policy proposals and their connection to the narrative:

Part 1) Discuss Erica's experience at Intercom. What issues do Erica and Raymond discover while they work there? What policy proposals do they make to the investors? How does this narrative indicate policy proposals Brooks would make regarding private industry?

Part 2) What conclusions does Harold come to while working at a Washington think tank? How do these proposals reflect his personal experience? What do these proposals seem to bear in mind about human nature that current public policy does not?

Essay Topic 2

Erica's life is a genuine American story. She begins life as a struggle against circumstances, and through hard work she achieves total professional and personal success. Write a three-part essay about her success:

Part 1) Describe the challenges that Erica faces from her early childhood? How does her socioeconomic and family background put her at an inherent disadvantage? How does education help her overcome these challenges?

Part 2) Chart Erica's journey from college to CEO of Intercom. What successes and failures bring her to this position of power? How do her understandings of humanity affect her capacity to run and improve businesses?

Part 3) Discuss how Erica becomes involved in the Richard Grace campaign. What appeals to her about his worldview? What does she bring to the campaign and the White House? How does she regard the political elite class she joins?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the prenatal and early childhood relationship between Julia and Harold. How is Julia's life different before and after she becomes pregnant? What is Harold's goal from the moment he develops sentience? How does he break down Julia's personality, and how does he rebuild her? Discuss how this process leads to a reinvented Julia who makes caring for Harold her primary concern?

(see the answer keys)

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