40 pages • 1 hour read
Timothy SnyderOn Tyranny
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Quiz
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This flexible-use quiz is designed for reading comprehension assessment and activity needs in classroom, home-schooling and other settings. Questions connect to the text’s plot, characters, and themes — and align with the content and chapter organization in the rest of this study guide. Use quizzes as pre-reading hooks, reading checks, discussion starters, entrance/exit “tickets,” small group activities, writing activities, and lessons on finding evidence and support in a text.
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- Recall and Understand Content (e.g., who, what, where, when)
- Apply and Analyze Ideas (e.g., how and why)
Prologue-Chapter 4
1. According to Snyder, what causes the collapse of many democracies?
A) freely elected leaders who dismantle institutions
B) military conquest by more powerful nations
C) terrorist attacks from decentralized networks
D) domestic military leaders who seize control
2. Snyder argues that one effect of portraying certain groups negatively is:
A) a reduced sense of loyalty.
B) a sense of the common good.
C) a tolerance of abuse.
D) a corresponding demand for rights
Chapters 5-8
3. In Chapter 5, what does Snyder argue is a threat to democratic institutions?
A) paramilitary violence
B) centralized government
C) disenfranchised citizens
D) state-controlled media
4. What do Teresa Prekerowa’s and Winston Churchill’s actions have in common?
A) They capitulated to the Nazis in the hopes of appeasement.
B) They went against predominating attitudes toward Nazi rule.
C) They both operated as part of the Polish resistance.
D) They both operated as world leaders during World War II.
Chapters 9-11
5. Which “killer of truth” proposes mutually contradictory policies?
A) endless repetition
B) misplaced faith
C) presenting inventions as fact
D) magical thinking
6. In Chapter 11, Snyder characterizes tyrants as:
A) keenly aware of how to sow division
B) uninterested in bureaucratic management
C) hostile to accurate investigative journalism
D) driven by a sense of narcissism
Chapters 12-17
7. According to Snyder, how do citizens find themselves participating in “the demolition of our own political order”?
A) distrusting established media outlets
B) ignoring threats to privacy
C) relying on old political networks
D) trusting in institutions to protect against tyranny
8. In Chapter 15, what does Snyder present as anathema to tyrants?
A) civil society
B) armed resistance
C) social media
D) international treaties
Answers
1. A (Chapter 2)
2. C (Chapter 4)
3. A (Chapter 6)
4. B (Chapter 8)
5. D (Chapter 10)
6. C (Chapter 11)
7. B (Chapter 14)
8. A (Chapter 15)
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By Timothy Snyder
