Quiz: Emile

15 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. What did the lazy young lord learn from the races for cakes with unequal courses? To judge distances accurately by eye To share his winnings with the losing boys before every race To refuse competitions he could not be sure of winning To count his paces precisely along each course
2. Which trade does Rousseau choose for Emile? Carpenter Shoemaker Blacksmith Tailor
3. Why does Rousseau choose Emile from among the rich? 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 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
4. Where, according to Rousseau, should one go to study the true character of a nation? To its remote provinces, away from the capital To its universities and academies To its capital, where all classes meet To its ports and centres of trade
5. How did the conjuror make his wax duck obey him after Emile’s attempt? He used bread soaked in a substance the duck disliked He replaced the duck with one made of a different metal A boy hidden under the table held a strong magnet He tilted the basin with a hidden spring
6. How does the tutor explain the difference between being good and being virtuous? Virtue belongs to citizens, goodness to private men Virtue is strength to master the passions; mere goodness lasts only while pleasant Virtue is learned from books, goodness from experience Virtue is obedience to revealed religion; goodness is mere natural feeling
7. What book reveals the cause of the young girl’s grief in the story of the “real” Sophy? Robinson Crusoe Plutarch’s Parallel Lives The Adventures of Telemachus The catechism
8. What does Rousseau use the Scythians’ gift to Darius to illustrate? The superiority of written treaties The value of hunting as an education The cruelty of barbarian kings The power of signs over words
9. What reform does Rousseau say would by itself bring “a reform in morals”? Abolishing the colleges Teaching children to read early Sending all children to the country Mothers nursing their own children
10. What, according to Rousseau, should the education of the earliest years consist of? Learning several languages and much history while the memory is still supple Memorising the catechism and the fables Learning to reason through careful explanations of duty, as Locke advised Guarding heart from vice and mind from error rather than teaching virtue
11. What is the first article of the Vicar’s creed? The world was created out of nothing in six days A will moves the universe and gives life to nature Man is free in his actions and has an immaterial soul Scripture is the word of God
12. Which two kinds of dependence does Rousseau distinguish in Book II? Dependence on God and dependence on one’s own private reason Economic dependence on masters and political dependence on rulers Dependence on parents in childhood and dependence on the state in adulthood Dependence on things (nature) and on men (society)
13. What does Rousseau say the faith of children and of many men depends on? Geography: where they happen to be born Their natural reason Their fear of punishment in this world and the next The quality of the catechism they were taught
14. How does Emile first learn that the daughter of his hosts is called Sophy? The tutor whispers it to him in the garden Her mother addresses her by name at supper when she is in tears She introduces herself shyly when he first arrives at the house The peasant who directs them to the house mentions her
15. According to Book I, what choice must an educator make when nature and society conflict? Between making a man and making a citizen Between religious and secular instruction Between Latin and French Between public schools and private tutors

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