Quiz: Emile

All 49 questions. A perfect score earns the gold medal; 80% earns silver.

1. 1. Why does Rousseau decide that, if rich, he would not keep a game preserve?

   His health would not allow him to ride after hounds through the open country Feeding and guarding the game would cost more than all the sport was worth Hunting is a cruel sport that would harden his heart against all living creatures Quarrels, ruined tenants and punished poachers would spoil his pleasure
2. 2. What, according to Rousseau, should the education of the earliest years consist of?

   Guarding heart from vice and mind from error rather than teaching virtue Learning to reason through careful explanations of duty, as Locke advised Memorising the catechism and the fables Learning several languages and much history while the memory is still supple
3. 3. According to Rousseau, what is “What will people think” for men and for women?

   A matter of indifference to the virtuous of either sex The grave of a man’s virtue and the throne of a woman’s The beginning of wisdom for both sexes The throne of a man’s virtue and the grave of a woman’s
4. 4. Why does Rousseau choose Emile from among the rich?

   The poor are educated by their station, while a rich man’s station gives the worst education The rich will pay the tutor well and leave him free to educate the child without any interference Rich children are naturally more intelligent, and so better fitted to profit from a tutor’s long care Only the rich have leisure for a long education, while the poor must go to work from early childhood
5. 5. Which two kinds of dependence does Rousseau distinguish in Book II?

   Dependence on parents in childhood and dependence on the state in adulthood Economic dependence on masters and political dependence on rulers Dependence on God and dependence on one’s own private reason Dependence on things (nature) and on men (society)
6. 6. Why, according to Rousseau, can “selfishness” (amour-propre) never be satisfied?

   God has forbidden its satisfaction in this life It wants others to prefer us to themselves, which is impossible It grows larger and fiercer with every bodily need that is satisfied It is directed only at things and possessions, never at other people
7. 7. Which historian does Rousseau call “the true model of historians”?

   Diodorus Siculus Thucydides Dionysius of Halicarnassus Tacitus
8. 8. How does the tutor explain the difference between being good and being virtuous?

   Virtue belongs to citizens, goodness to private men Virtue is learned from books, goodness from experience Virtue is obedience to revealed religion; goodness is mere natural feeling Virtue is strength to master the passions; mere goodness lasts only while pleasant
9. 9. Which trade does Rousseau choose for Emile?

   Carpenter Shoemaker Tailor Blacksmith
10. 10. In the Preface, what does Rousseau say is the chief fault of the wisest writers on education?

    They look for the man in the child, ignoring what a child can learn They copy Locke too closely They write for the sons of princes and nobles rather than ordinary families They ignore the education of girls entirely
11. 11. Which book is to be Emile’s whole library for a long time?

    Buffon’s Natural History Aesop’s Fables Robinson Crusoe Plutarch’s Lives
12. 12. Why does Rousseau say the Turks are kinder and more hospitable than Europeans?

    Their religion commands almsgiving and rewards hospitality to strangers They have no hereditary nobility, so no one is too proud to help another Their warm climate softens the temper and inclines them to generosity Under arbitrary government anyone’s rank and wealth may be lost tomorrow
13. 13. Where, according to Rousseau, should one go to study the true character of a nation?

    To its universities and academies To its capital, where all classes meet To its remote provinces, away from the capital To its ports and centres of trade
14. 14. Which of these does Rousseau not credit to a woman in Roman history?

    Saving Rome when besieged by Coriolanus The plebeians winning the consulate The defeat of Hannibal The overthrow of the decemvirs
15. 15. What holds Sophy back from accepting Emile’s proposals at first?

    She doubts his religious principles Her parents forbid her to marry before twenty She is poor and Emile is rich She is already promised to another young man of the village
16. 16. What is the first article of the Vicar’s creed?

    Man is free in his actions and has an immaterial soul The world was created out of nothing in six days Scripture is the word of God A will moves the universe and gives life to nature
17. 17. What does Rousseau take a girl’s love of her doll to show?

    Her instinctive bent towards the art of pleasing by adornment That boys and girls should share all their games and toys That girls should be taught to read early A habit copied from her mother that the governess must break early
18. 18. How does Rousseau say Locke ended his book on education?

    By recommending a public school By leaving the young gentleman to his mistress as he is about to marry By advising the father to choose his son’s wife and settle his estate on him By sending the young gentleman abroad on a tour of Europe with his tutor
19. 19. What does Rousseau give as the plainest signs of good or bad government?

    The size of the capital and the wealth of its trade and manufactures The number of laws and the severity of punishments The growth of the population and its even spread over the country The strength of the army and the number of fortresses on the frontier
20. 20. When Sophy’s mother finds Emile working in the joiner’s shop, what moves her to call him “My son”?

    Learning that he has quietly bought the workshop for her family Learning that he works for a journeyman’s wage and his food Hearing that he had carved Sophy a little present at the bench Seeing him give his wages to the poor
21. 21. In Rousseau’s childhood story, what was he sent into the dark church at night to fetch?

    The church key left in the vestry His cousin Bernard’s hat A Bible left in the pulpit A lantern left by the sexton
22. 22. What does Rousseau say the faith of children and of many men depends on?

    The quality of the catechism they were taught Their natural reason Their fear of punishment in this world and the next Geography: where they happen to be born
23. 23. What does Rousseau call the change that comes with puberty at the start of Book IV?

    The age of reason and of judgment The end of education A second birth, into life and manhood The fall from innocence
24. 24. Why, according to the Vicar, can miracles not settle which doctrine is true?

    Only the Pope or a general council of the Church can certify a true miracle The devil can imitate them, so doctrine must test miracles Miracles happened too long ago for any living witness to verify them Miracles contradict the plain teaching of the Scriptures themselves
25. 25. Why does Rousseau call the “sixth sense” common-sense?

    Because it results from the well-regulated use of the other five senses Because it is formed slowly by the common opinions of society Because it has its own organ shared by men and animals Because every man possesses it equally from birth
26. 26. Why does Rousseau prefer that a man marry beneath rather than above his rank?

    Women of higher rank are brought up idle and cannot keep house for a husband The law of his country forbade a man to marry a woman of higher rank than his own The family’s rank follows its head, so he raises his wife without lowering himself A poorer wife will be more grateful and so more faithful to her husband all her life
27. 27. Which three sources of education does Rousseau distinguish at the start of Book I?

    Books, travel and conversation Nature, men and things Parents, tutors and schools Reason, habit and religion
28. 28. Of Europe’s three religions, which does the Vicar call “the newest and seems the most consistent”?

    None of them; all are equally inconsistent The one that accepts three revelations The one that accepts only one revelation The one that accepts two revelations
29. 29. How do Emile and his tutor find their way out of the forest near Montmorency?

    Using the noon shadows to find south, where the town lies Emile uses the compass he made from a magnetised needle at the fair They climb a tall tree and sight the church tower of Montmorency They follow a stream downhill until it brings them out at the town gates
30. 30. What reform does Rousseau say would by itself bring “a reform in morals”?

    Mothers nursing their own children Teaching children to read early Abolishing the colleges Sending all children to the country
31. 31. Who destroyed Emile’s bean patch, and why?

    The village boys, because they were jealous that Emile had a garden of his own Robert the gardener, because Emile had planted where he had already sown Maltese melons A neighbour’s goat, because the garden gate had been left open during the night The tutor himself, because he wished to teach Emile patience in the face of loss
32. 32. What does Rousseau use the Scythians’ gift to Darius to illustrate?

    The cruelty of barbarian kings The superiority of written treaties The value of hunting as an education The power of signs over words
33. 33. Why does the tutor describe and name Sophy before any real woman has been found?

    To test whether Emile can keep a secret So an imagined ideal will guide Emile’s desire and guard him from other women Because she is a character from a book Emile has read Because Sophy is already promised to Emile by their families
34. 34. According to Book I, what choice must an educator make when nature and society conflict?

    Between religious and secular instruction Between making a man and making a citizen Between Latin and French Between public schools and private tutors
35. 35. What does Emile conclude after two years of seeking a place to settle?

    That the English constitution best secures the liberty of its subjects That Geneva is the only truly free country left in all of Europe That property binds, and freedom is yielding to necessity That he should sell his estate and live as a free workman in a large town
36. 36. How does the Vicar answer those who tell him to “submit your reason”?

    He must have reasons for submitting his reason Reason should yield to the Church in matters of faith He submits his reason but keeps his conscience Only the Scriptures can tell him when to submit
37. 37. Where does the Vicar deliver his profession of faith?

    On a hill above the river Po at sunrise In his mountain parish church On the shore of Lake Geneva at sunset In the hostel for proselytes
38. 38. What chiefly corrupts a young man entering society, according to Rousseau?

    His physical development Reading novels and romances alone in solitude The first awakening pleasures of the senses Vanity and the opinion of his companions
39. 39. Why, according to Rousseau, does Plato’s Republic give women the same training as men?

    Sparta required it by law Plato believed women were stronger than men in both body and mind Plato wanted women to replace men as rulers of the guardian class Having abolished the family, Plato has nowhere else to put women
40. 40. What did the lazy young lord learn from the races for cakes with unequal courses?

    To refuse competitions he could not be sure of winning To judge distances accurately by eye To count his paces precisely along each course To share his winnings with the losing boys before every race
41. 41. Why, according to Rousseau, do carefully educated young men learn to ride but not to swim?

    Riding is costly and marks them off from others; swimming costs nothing Physicians of the time held that cold river water harmed growing boys Riding is required for military service and swimming is not Swimming is thought too dangerous for heirs to great estates and titles
42. 42. How did the conjuror make his wax duck obey him after Emile’s attempt?

    A boy hidden under the table held a strong magnet He used bread soaked in a substance the duck disliked He tilted the basin with a hidden spring He replaced the duck with one made of a different metal
43. 43. What book reveals the cause of the young girl’s grief in the story of the “real” Sophy?

    The Adventures of Telemachus The catechism Robinson Crusoe Plutarch’s Parallel Lives
44. 44. What is Rousseau’s objection to teaching La Fontaine’s fables to children?

    They are too full of classical allusions for a child who knows nothing of mythology Children misread them and side with the villain, such as the fox, not with his dupe They mock the poor and teach children to despise the labouring classes and their work They are too short and simple to hold the attention of an intelligent child for very long
45. 45. How does Emile first learn that the daughter of his hosts is called Sophy?

    She introduces herself shyly when he first arrives at the house The peasant who directs them to the house mentions her Her mother addresses her by name at supper when she is in tears The tutor whispers it to him in the garden
46. 46. Whose religion should a wife follow, according to Book V?

    Her mother’s, for life The established church of the state The one she chooses after reasoning for herself Her husband’s
47. 47. What practical advice does the Vicar give his young listener at the end?

    Go home to the religion of his fathers Stay in Turin and become a priest like himself Give up all public worship and pray in private Travel through the world to compare all its religions
48. 48. Why do Emile and the tutor fail to arrive at Sophy’s house on the evening they were expected?

    Emile was kept late at the workshop by the master joiner They lost their way in a storm in the forest They carried a hurt peasant home The tutor fell ill on the road from town
49. 49. According to Rousseau’s first maxim on pity, in whose place do we naturally put ourselves?

    Those who have helped us in the past Those of our own rank Only those who can claim our pity Those who are happier and luckier than ourselves