Dr. Prinsky

Humn. 2001

Test on Plato's Apology of Socrates

1. As stated in NAWM, one of the reasons for some Athenians' growing discontent with Socrates was: (a) his accumulating wealth (b) postwar depression after the conflict with Sparta (c) the too-favorable portrayal of Socrates in current drama, especially comedy (d) concern about the similarity between Socratic philosophy and the new Christian religion

2. As stated in NAWM, the technical name of Socrates' method of searching for the truth by question and answer is: (a) dialectic (b) colloquy (c) mediation (d) anagnorisis

3. As stated in NAWM and in class, Plato's Apology is a combination of all the following literary forms except which one: (a) epic (b) nonfiction prose (c) dialogue (d) drama (e) satire

4. Plato's Apology represents the language and literature of ancient: (a) India (b) Greece (c) Israel (d) Rome

5. Plato's Apology was composed (remembering to make the appropriate adjustment for how centuries are reckoned in Anglo-American culture) sometime around the end of the: (a) sixth century B.C.E. (b) fifth century B.C.E. (c) fourth century B.C.E. (d) third century B.C.E.

6. A famous painting depicting the sentence passed by the court against Socrates was done by: (a) Pablo Picasso (b) Vincent Van Gogh (c) Jacques Louis David (d) Leonardo Da Vinci

7. The painting mentioned in the immediately preceding question represents the artistic movement of: (a) Modernism (b) Impressionism (c) Neoclassicism (d) Renaissance

8. The overtones of the painting referred to in the two immediately preceding questions, as suggested by the painter, are: (a) Hindu (b) Jewish (c) Buddhist (d) Christian (e) nonreligious

9. An important three-part "symphonic drama" about Socrates, including lyrics and voices, whose third part is the "Death of Socrates," was composed by: (a) Johann Sebastian Bach (b) Aaron Copeland (c) Richard Wagner (d) Erik Satie

10. The musical style of the composition referred to in the immediately preceding question (and typical of the composer) could be characterized as: (a) complexly baroque (b) stirringly nationalistic (c) lushly romantic (d) sparely minimalist

11. In subject matter, principal characters of the work, and setting, Plato's Apology is linked with all of the following of Plato's works except which one: (a) Crito (b) Euthyphro (c) Gorgias (d) Phaedo

12. Plato imparts drama or a sense of a drama to the Apology by all the following components except which one: (a) Socrates' repeated and flamboyant references to his own speech-making artistry (b) Socrates' demands of the crowd to stop interrupting (c) Socrates' pauses to await an answer (that often doesn't come) from the person he interrogates (d) Socrates' formulation in his own speeches of questioners who ask something to which he replies

13. In the opening of Plato’s Apology, when Socrates refers to the emotional eloquence of his accusers having almost made him forget who he was — and yet hardly having uttered a word of truth (paragraph 1 of the work’s 75 paragraphs, as per Prinsky’s Notes and Questions on the work), he exemplifies: (a) Socratic irony (b) catharsis (c) Socratic maiuetics (d) litotes

14. In the opening of Plato’s Apology, when Socrates defines and differentiates main kinds of eloquence (par. 1), his purpose is mainly: (a) logical clarity -- the philosopher's need for precise terminology (b) humor -- to make fun of or satirize his opponents (c) persuasion -- to suggest that if his speech sounds good, the reason is its truth (d) a delaying tactic, to wait while the courtroom settles down and quiets

15. One technique of both Plato and Socrates for the purposes of argument is division of something (e.g., eloquence, in par. 1) into how many main classes: (a) two (b) three (c) four (d) five

16. Socrates’ technique might be termed: (a) bifurcation (b) trilogy (c) quadrilateralism (d) pentacostalism

17. When talking about his language, Socrates with apparent casualness refers to his age (par. 1), subtly conveying all of the following except which one: (a) sympathy for the elderly (b) an innocent life that has for a very long time required no court appearance (c) reverence for a certain age group (d) compassion for a youthful offender

18. As Socrates indicates in his categorization of accusers, historical and recent (pars. 2-11), he considers the former more dangerous because they have appealed to or influenced the jury's: (a) conscience (b) sense of justice (c) anxieties about everyday affairs, especially taxes, finances, and money (d) subconscious

19. The “Comic poet” referred to by Socrates as having satirized Socrates (pars. 2 and 4) has what representative work included in NAWM: (a) Lyrics by Sappho (b) Agamemnon (c) Medea (d) Lysistrata (e) Lyrics by Catullus

20. Socrates’ apparently casual references such as “No, by heaven!” (par. 1), “leaving the event with God” (par. 3), “by the goddess Here [= Hera]” (par. 23), “by Zeus I will” (par. 32), “by the gods” (par. 41), plus Socrates’ explanation of why he started his quest (pars. 6-11), all help to implicitly refute certain charges against him by implying that he is indeed a/an: (a) (b) theist (c) agnostic (d) monotheist

21. In pars. 6-11, as he explains his quest to prove the oracle of Delphi incorrect about there not being a wiser man in Greece than he, Socrates at the same time notes that the results of this quest (and of his unauthorized disciples acting similarly) have included: (a) hostility from the questioned (b) increased wisdom (c) material prosperity (d) greater respect for artisans or expert craftsmen

22. The reaction of those questioned by Socrates in his quest, as reported by Socrates (pars. 6-11), by implication derived from: (a) Greeks delight in philosophy (b) wounded self-esteem (c) Greek emphasis on scientific knowledge (d) frustrated monetary greed

23. By his report of his discussions with writers and poets (pars. 8-9), Socrates would have what estimate of the personal wisdom of Homer or Sophocles: (a) favorable (b) neutral (c) unfavorable (d) none

24. The main literary function of the Meletus episode in the Apology (pars. 12-53) is to: (a) create or evoke sympathy for Socrates (b) portray the cunning and eloquent speeches of Socrates' opponents (c) exemplify the Socratic dialogue or Socratic method (d) introduce poetry into the prose

25. In the Meletus episode, Socrates' repeated reference to Meletus' "facetious" contradiction or "riddle" demonstrates Socratic: (a) definition of terms (b) irony (c) allusion or reference to the Sphinx story in Sophocles' Oedipus the King (d) interest in the natural sciences

26. Both in Socrates’ summing up of his opponents’ ideas (e.g., par. 4) as well as the Meletus episode (pars. 12-53), Plato and Socrates inject into The Apology the element of: (a) fiction (b) drama (c) poetry (d) treatise

27. When Socrates gets into an explanation of why he doesn't fear death and won't change his way of life (pars. 54-64), Socrates says (par. 58) that, to use a "ludicrous figure of speech," he is the fit to the state, by God, of a: (a) Pandora's box (b) rampaging Fury (c) old but useful sandal (d) gadfly

28. Socrates' "ludicrous figure of speech" referred to in the immediately preceding question, portrays: (a) Socrates heroically but the Athenians disparagingly (b) Socrates disparagingly but the Athenians heroically (c) Socrates and the Athenians heroically (d) Socrates and the Athenians disparagingly

29. Socrates' very first proposal of a penalty or punishment alternative to Meletus' demand for death (pars. 65-68), before he modifies it, is primarily: (a) almost desperately generous (b) humbly repentant (c) ironically defiant (d) cautiously political

30. In Socrates' last words in answer to the death penalty, addressed to those voting for condemnation or acquittal (pars. 69-75), especially in the paragraph beginning "Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good" (par. 72), Socrates' argument or reasoning mainly depends on: (a) observation of the natural world (b) traditional ideas in Homer, especially the Odyssey (c) deduction from a series of axioms -- like Euclidean geometry (d) division of the subject into two parts

31. When Socrates talks to his supporters and refers to what has continually motivated him (par. 71), he emphasizes the: (a) supernatural (b) earthly (c) secular (d) material

32. According to Socrates’ analysis (par. 72), death may represent all of the following except which one: (a) an utter material stopping (b) peaceful oblivion (c) supernatural state-changing (d) joyful meetings (e) fiery eternal punishment