Question 1

How did Sherman do her research for her essay, &#34;The Anxieties of Affluence&#34;?&#10;A) She interviewed individuals and couples in 50 households in New York City.&#10;B) She went &#34;underground&#34; and posed as a caregiver for dozens of wealthy, elderly individuals.&#10;C) She analyzed several years of the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey data.&#10;D) She used all of the above methods in her research.

Accepted Answer

Sherman conducted her research for the essay "The Anxieties of Affluence" by interviewing individuals and couples in 50 households in New York City, focusing on their personal experiences and perspectives.

Question 2

What does Sherman conclude about the people in her essay, &#34;The Anxieties of Affluence&#34;?&#10;A) They want their children to be good people, which makes them feel that they, too, are good people.&#10;B) Their lives would be much more comfortable if they had less money rather than more.&#10;C) It is okay to be extremely wealthy, but only if the wealthy give some of their wealth to worthy causes.&#10;D) Most people who are very affluent don't &#34;play by the rules&#34; like other people.

Accepted Answer

Throughout the essay, Sherman discusses how affluent people have anxieties related to their wealth and the pressure to maintain their social status. She concludes that ultimately, these individuals want their children to be good people, which they believe reflects positively on themselves. This indicates that they still value morality and virtue, despite their wealth.

Question 3

The main focus of Sherman's essay, &#34;The Anxieties of Affluence,&#34; is&#10;A) the mental health of people who are afraid that their standard of living is precarious and that they might somehow fall into poverty.&#10;B) the consumer behavior of those who can purchase anything but feel they need to make good and responsible (often ecologically sound) decisions about what to buy.&#10;C) crime and the prospect among her subjects that they will be robbed, defrauded, or arrested for tax evasion.&#10;D) child rearing.

Accepted Answer

D

Question 4

What do most of the people in Sherman's essay, &#34;The Anxieties of Affluence,&#34; have in common?&#10;A) They believe that women should strive to be successful in a career.&#10;B) They believe in God.&#10;C) They value work.&#10;D) They earned their wealth rather than inheriting it.

Accepted Answer

Throughout the essay, Sherman describes the anxieties and pressures of affluent individuals who value work and productivity. Many of these individuals are described as experiencing guilt or anxiety if they take time off or are not constantly working to maintain their affluence. Therefore, valuing work is a common trait among the people in Sherman's essay. While some individuals may hold other beliefs, such as believing in God or valuing women's success in careers, these traits are not as universally applied to the individuals described in the essay. The essay does not address whether the individuals earned their wealth or inherited it.

Question 5

The people in Sherman's essay, &#34;The Anxieties of Affluence,&#34; shared a desire for&#10;A) children in less affluent households to experience (or at least see) how their own children live.&#10;B) their children to have experiences that would put them in contact with (or at least see) children in less affluent households.&#10;C) their children to attend public schools, even though they could have put them into expensive private schools.&#10;D) expensive private schools to admit more children from middle- and working-class families.

Accepted Answer

The essay discusses how affluent parents feel the need to expose their children to other children from less affluent households in order to instill a sense of empathy and understanding of different lifestyles.

Question 6

What did the people in Sherman's essay, &#34;The Anxieties of Affluence,&#34; spend a great deal of time doing?&#10;A) They worked on behalf of causes to help the poor, and especially poor, single mothers.&#10;B) They worked for legislation that would reduce the gap between the rich and poor, for example through progressive taxation, strengthening labor unions, reducing health care and housing costs, etc.&#10;C) They worked to improve public education, especially where their children went to school.&#10;D) They didn't do any of the above.

Accepted Answer

The essay describes how the people in Sherman's social circle, despite their affluence, did not seem to be actively working towards addressing social inequality or helping the less fortunate. Instead, they spent time focusing on their own anxieties and problems.

Deck 17: Rachel Sherman, the Anxieties of Affluence From Uneasy Street: the Anxieties of Affluence