SparkNotes: Looking Backward: Review Quiz

Why was Julian presumed dead after a fire destroyed his home?

(A) He never told anyone about his underground sleeping chamber.

(B) Doctor Pillsbury left for New Orleans the night Julian's house burned.

(C) Julian's servant Sawyer died in the fire.

(D) All of the above

How did Julian's contemporaries feel about the vast gap between the rich and the poor?

(A) They felt that there was nothing that could be done about it.

(B) They felt that private philanthropy would eventually eliminate the gap.

(C) They felt that the gap was a moral outrage.

(D) None of the above

What metaphor does Julian use to describe the class stratification in nineteenth-century society?

(A) He uses the metaphor of a race in which the rich ride on horses and the poor run.

(B) He uses the metaphor of a coach in which some people ride while others pull.

(C) He uses the metaphor of a train on which the rich have comfortable cars and the poor are huddled in cold, uncomfortable cars.

(D) None of the above

How would the plot of Looking Backward best be described?

(A) The plot is as detailed and complex as Bellamy's imagined utopia.

(B) The plot is seamlessly integrated into Bellamy's extended social critique.

(C) The plot is simple and minimal, because it is merely a vehicle for Bellamy's ideas for social reform.

(D) None of the above

How would Looking Backward best be characterized?

(A) It is a utopian novel.

(B) Although it is fictional work, Bellamy wanted his readers to consider it a blueprint for improving their society.

(C) It is an extended social critique on nineteenth-century society.

(D) All of the above

How would Julian best be described?

(A) Julian is the mouthpiece for the reservations and questions that Bellamy anticipates from his readers regarding his ideas for social reform.

(B) Julian functions as a guide to Bellamy's confusing, unfamiliar society.

(C) Bellamy hopes that his readers will identify with Julian, and therefore with his ideas for social reform.

(D) All of the above

How would Doctor Leete best be described?

(A) Doctor Leete functions as the mouthpiece for Bellamy's ideas for social reform.

(B) Doctor Leete functions as Julian's guide to the confusing, unfamiliar twentieth-century society.

(C) Doctor Leete represents rational, logical thought, so Bellamy's radical ideas for social reform seem more palatable to a nineteenth-century audience.

(D) All of the above

How would Edith Leete best be described?

(A) Edith exhibits many of the stereotypical traits of a nineteenth-century heroine.

(B) Edith, unlike nineteenth-century women, participates in political discussions.

(C) Unlike nineteenth-century women, Edith does not demur to masculine authority.

(D) None of the above

Why was Julian's marriage to Edith Bartlett delayed for over a year?

(A) Edith kept postponing the wedding.

(B) Edith's poor health necessitated that they keep postponing the wedding.

(C) Edith's parents were nervous about Julian's financial prospects, so they continually pressured Edith to delay the wedding.

(D) None of the above

Which of the following does Bellamy say about his imagined utopia?

(A) He states that human nature will have to undergo vast changes before his ideal society can exist.

(B) He states that his utopia is the logical outcome of the nineteenth century's rapid industrialization.

(C) He acknowledges that his ideal society will probably never come into existence because people will never accept an economy of publicly owned capital.

(D) None of the above

What reason does Bellamy give for the complacency of nineteenth-century society toward the wide gap between the rich and poor?

(A) He attributes it to the cruel and immoral character of nineteenth-century people.

(B) He attributes the gap to the laziness of the poor.

(C) He attributes the gap to inherent inferiority of the poor.

(D) None of the above

Which of the following is one of Bellamy's strategies for persuading his audience to give serious consideration to his proposals for social reform?

(A) He argues that communal cooperation and publicly owned capital is vastly more efficient than a system in which competition is the rule of the game.

(B) He argues that publicly owned capital would not decrease, but actually increase personal freedom.

(C) He places his strange, unfamiliar, somewhat threatening vision of the future within the context of rational and logical progress.

(D) All of the above

How would Bellamy's vision of a perfect society best be described?

(A) It is a socialist society.

(B) It is an anarchist's paradise.

(C) Although it is heavily influenced by socialist theories, it differs greatly from Marx's ideal socialist society.

(D) None of the above

Which of the following is the prime moral and social imperative in Bellamy's vision of a perfect society?

(A) A firm commitment to the common good

(B) Religion

(C) A strong distaste for anything that resembles competition

(D) None of the above

What is the attitude toward individualism in Bellamy's vision of a perfect society?

(A) Individualism is nurtured to the extent that every citizen is encouraged to realize his or her full potential.

(B) Selfless individualism is rewarded and valued, but selfish individualism is strongly discouraged.

(C) Individualism is recognized, because every instance of personal merit is recognized and rewarded.

(D) All of the above

What does Bellamy say about the intense competition in an economy based on private capital?

(A) He characterizes it as inhumane and immensely wasteful.

(B) He states that it is an efficient means to weed out waste.

(C) He believes that it is a means to better the human race, because he believes it fosters survival of the fittest.

(D) None of the above

How is the labor force structured in Bellamy's vision of a perfect society?

(A) It is structured only in a simple, minimal way.

(B) It not really structured at all.

(C) It is structured like an army.

(D) None of the above

Which of the following does Bellamy offer as an example of waste in an economy based on private capital?

(A) The frequent idleness of jobless workers and workers on strike

(B) The frequent failure of businesses

(C) The periodic gluts and shortages in the market

(D) All of the above

How does Bellamy soothe his reader's fears that an economy based on publicly owned capital would infringe upon individual freedom?

(A) He explains how his ideal society would encourage every citizen to choose a career that suits him or her best.

(B) He explains how most consumer demands will be satisfied.

(C) He explains how citizens have a great deal of leisure time and activities.

(D) All of the above

In Bellamy's vision of a perfect society, what is needed for artistic or literary success?

(A) Money

(B) Status

(C) Talent

(D) None of the above

Who is allowed to vote in Bellamy's vision of a perfect society?

(A) Everyone

(B) Retired individuals

(C) Men only

(D) None of the above

To what does Bellamy attribute most of the crime committed in nineteenth-century society?

(A) He attributes it to moral weakness.

(B) He attributes it to an inherent criminal nature.

(C) He attributes it to the pressures of poverty.

(D) None of the above

What secret does Edith Leete keep from Julian?

(A) She doesn't tell him that she is the great-granddaughter of Edith Bartlett.

(B) She doesn't tell him that Edith Bartlett committed suicide out of grief after Julian was presumed dead.

(C) She doesn't tell him that Sawyer set the fire that destroyed Julian's home.

(D) She doesn't tell him that the striking builders set his house on fire.

How does Bellamy address the matter of religion in his vision of a perfect society?

(A) He gives an extended, detailed description of the role of religion in his ideal society.

(B) He gives few specific details about religion in his ideal society.

(C) He states that religion has no place or value in his ideal society.

(D) None of the above

In Bellamy's vision of a perfect society, which women can hold positions of power within the government?

(A) Single women only

(B) Any woman

(C) Married women with children

(D) Women are not permitted to hold positions of power within the government

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