Ralph Emerson Quiz

How does paragraph 2 of the text contribute to a complete picture of Emerson’s life and work? 

• It gives details about the influence he had on other writers. 

  
  

• It supplies background information about his youth and education.

• It explores the religious influences that contributed to his spirituality

• It includes quotations that are reflective of his philosophy

Answer explanation

Paragraph 2 informs readers about the time and place of Emerson's birth, his family background, and his educational experiences.

What is the role of the last sentence in paragraph 1?

• It summarizes the ideas presented in the paragraph

• It foreshadows the ideas that are presented in coming paragraphs

• It represents a strong example of the ideas expressed in the paragraph

• It provides a smooth transition to paragraph 2

Answer explanation

The paragraph is mainly about Emerson's effect on other American writers, and in the final sentence Thoreau poetically states and demonstrates that Emerson affected him profoundly

Which of the following BEST describes the two sentences that are quoted in paragraph 5

• As he demonstrates in these sentences, Emerson is a modest and humble man who wants only to be understood by his readers

• These sentences offer a rare and candid insight into Emerson’s own doubts about his philosophy and his ability to express himself clearly

• In these sentences, through clever use of parallelism and other devices, Emerson exhibits his contrary nature and playfulness with language

• These sentences are a simple and matter-of-fact statement of Emerson’s clearly focused and consistent ideas about his writing and his ideas

Answer explanation

In the beginning of the first sentence, Emerson plays with parallel structure to make a self-deprecating statement. The two sentences work together to underscore the idea that Emerson likes to play with language and with clever and often contradictory ideas

Whosoever would be a man must be a nonconformist, Which is the most insightful analysis of the ideas Emerson expresses in this sentence

• Emerson believes that in order to be a man of significance, one must be willing to be an individual and outside of the mainstream

• Emerson urges tolerance of all men, including those whose ideas are unique and individual

• Emerson urges men to be fair to each other, to women, and to minorities rather than conform to the social norm of intolerance

• Emerson is expressing his belief that all men are equal whether or not they conform to the expected patterns set by other men

Answer explanation

Taken literally, the quoted sentence makes no sense. Being a man means being like other men. However, Emerson is not thinking literally. His readers understand that he is not writing about an ordinary man. He is writing about a man of significance, an individual outside the herd

Which sentence from the passage supports the idea that Emerson was an important teacher for other writers

• In his 1841 essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson writes "Whosoever would be a man must be a nonconformist

• He was the mentor of another American writer, Henry David Thoreau, and loaned him the property at Walden Pond where Thoreau would write the celebrated masterpiece Walden; or, Life in the Woods

• Emerson was a vocal supporter of the poet Walt Whitman and wrote a letter endorsing Whitman's Leaves of Grass as "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed

• When the family of Louisa May Alcott, the future author of Little Women, fell into poverty, Emerson raised money to support them

Answer explanation

This sentence explains that Emerson was a mentor, or teacher, of Thoreau, and therefore supports the idea that Emerson was an important teacher for other writers.