Comparative Literature Study Guide Questions
Course Introduction
Comparative Literature is an interdisciplinary course that explores literature across linguistic, cultural, and national boundaries. Students engage with texts from diverse literary traditions, analyzing themes, genres, and historical contexts to better understand how literature shapes and is shaped by different societies. The course encourages critical thinking by comparing works from various periods and regions, fostering an appreciation of global literary movements and the dialogue between different cultures. Through reading, discussion, and analytical writing, students gain insight into universal human experiences as expressed through the written word.
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Culture and Values A Survey of the Humanities 8th Edition by Lawrence S. Cunningham
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Chapter 1: Beginnings
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Q1) What colossal statue stands next to the pyramids at Giza?
A)The Stele of Aton-rah
B)The Sphinx
C)Demeter
D)Gilgamesh
Answer: B
Q2) Which war provided the background for Homer's Iliad and Odyssey?
A)the Peloponnesian War
B)the Trojan War
C)the Persian War
D)the Babylonian War
Answer: B
Q3) Who discovered the civilization which predated the Mycenaeans?
A)Sir Arthur Evans
B)Lord Wilton Spiel
C)Heinrich Schliemann
D)Howard Carter
Answer: A
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Chapter 2: The Rise of Greece
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Q1) Which Greek god represented supreme good?
A)Zeus
B)Orpheus
C)Apollo
D)none of the above
Answer: D
Q2) What Greek epic poem recounts the story of Achilles and the Trojan War?
A)The Odyssey
B)The Iliad
C)The Aeneid
D)The Epic of Gilgamesh
Answer: B
Q3) _______________________ Greek double-reed musical instrument.
Answer: Aulos
Q4) How did the Greek system of belief differ from Judaism and Christianity?
A)It involved formal worship ceremonies.
B)It was polytheistic.
C)It was based upon the worship of animals.
D)It was based upon spirit-possession ritual.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Classical Greece and the Hellenistic Period
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Q1) What does Plato illustrate in his Allegory of the Cave?
A)The destruction of the natural world
B)The limits of human sense perception
C)The importance of traditional religion
D)The value of supporting the visual arts
Answer: B
Q2) What descriptive name has been given to the Athenian civilization of the last half of the fifth century B.C.E.?
A)The Age of Philosophy
B)The Golden Age of Greece
C)The Age of Drama
D)The Mythological Period
Answer: B
Q3) Who introduced the idea of catharsis in the analysis of drama?
A)Aristotle
B)Plato
C)Socrates
D)Pythagoras
Answer: A
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Chapter 4: Rome
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Q1) What Roman class was represented in the Senate?
A)plebeians
B)patricians
C)tribunes
D)stoics
Q2) Who is the most famous Roman satirist?
A)Cicero
B)Juvenal
C)Seneca
D)Virgil
Q3) Who was the first great Roman lyric poet?
A)Sappho
B)Catullus
C)Lesbia
D)Virgil
Q4) _______________________ Elected representative of the plebeians
Q5) _______________________ Emperor who passed an edict setting stringent economic controls
Q6) In what sense did the Roman Empire survive until C.E.1453?
Q7) _______________________ Egyptian Queen defeated by Octavian
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Chapter 5: Ancient Civilizations of India and China
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Q1) _______________________ Hebrew word for "the anointed one"
Q2) _______________________ Hallway that crosses the nave
Q3) According to the Bible, who was the father patriarch)of the Hebrews?
A)David
B)Abraham
C)Noah
D)Isaac
Q4) What is the difference between a "prophet" and a "seer"? What was the main function of prophets in the Judeo-Christian traditions?
Q5) What are the Beatitudes?
A)The early Christian saints
B)The blessings delivered during Mass
C)The core teachings of Jesus
D)The musical pieces performed during Mass
Q6) What prompted the Christian church to create the position of cantor?
Q7) What are the four most important sources of information about the life of Jesus?
A)Revelation, Leviticus, and the Psalms
B)The Dead Sea Scrolls, Lamentations, and Proverbs
C)Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
D)Acts of the Apostles, Song of Solomon, and the Pauline Letters
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Chapter 6: The Rise of the Biblical Tradition
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Q1) What is the encaustic method of painting?
A)Painting using hot colored wax
B)Painting using oil-based paints on wood
C)Painting using water-based paints on canvas
D)Painting using pigments mixed with egg whites
Q2) How were pendentives used to combine a dome with a basilica?
A)They distributed the dome's weight.
B)They formed a stable tunnel.
C)They sat atop the drum.
D)They sat atop the cupola.
Q3) Where is the apse located in the church?
A)Near the entrance
B)Surrounding the alter
C)Along the transept
D)Between the pews
Q4) What did Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora believe was their mission?
A)To reestablish the grandeur of the Roman empire under the Christian faith
B)To eradicate the influence of the Christian faith on the Roman empire
C)To improve the standard of living for all Roman citizens
D)To expand classical education throughout the eastern Roman empire
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Early Christianity: Ravenna and Byzantium
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Q1) What is the purpose of minarets adjacent to a mosque?
A)To ward off temptation
B)To call the faithful to prayer
C)To guide the faithful to Mecca
D)To provide a private space for meditation
Q2) What is interesting about the site of The Great Mosque of Damascus?
A)The site was once a pagan burial ground.
B)The site was once a Christian basilica.
C)The site once housed a Platonic academy.
D)The site is in the capital of the Abbasid Dynasty.
Q3) What city was the political and cultural capital of the Abbasid Dynasty?
A)Damascus
B)Jerusalem
C)Baghdad
D)Cairo
Q4) _______________________ Niche inside mosque which faces Mecca
Q5) _______________________ The pulpit in an Islamic mosque
Q6) _______________________ Persian scholar and poet famous for his rubaiyat
Q7) Why are translations of the Qur'an not considered to be authentic but rather glosses of the original?
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Chapter 8: Islam
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Q1) What illuminated book is considered the literary masterpiece of the Carolingian Renaissance?
A)The Dagulf Psalter
B)The Quadrivium
C)The Book of Hours
D)The Utrecht Psalter
Q2) _______________________Latin for "plainsong" or "plainchant"
Q3) What was the primary purpose of a reliquary?
A)It served as a place to bury the dead.
B)It served as a center for worship.
C)It served as a repository for sacred objects.
D)It housed literary and scholarly manuscripts.
Q4) What is the subject of the Bayeux Tapestry?
A)Beowulf's battle with Grendel
B)The Norman Invasion of England in 1066
C)The Battle of Roncesvalles in 778
D)The Rule of Saint Benedict
Q5) _______________________Chanson de geste about Charlemagne's Spanish campaign
Q6) How did the Quem Queritis trope affect the development of western drama?
Page 10
Q7) What are the themes of the morality play Everyman?
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Chapter 9: The Rise of Medieval Culture
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Q1) What was the functional purpose of the Gothic gargoyles?
A)as rain-gutters
B)as fountains
C)as supports
D)as lanterns
Q2) _______________________ Marks on the body resembling the wounds of Christ.
Q3) What made possible the increased height of Gothic cathedrals?
A)the domed ceiling
B)the ribbed vault
C)the flying buttress
D)the pointed arch
Q4) What was the subject of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed?
A)Christian history
B)Aristotle's philosophical ideas
C)The meaning of the Hebrew bible
D)A primer on the natural sciences
Q5) _______________________ Multiple melodies moving in contrast to one another.
Q6) How does Gothic sculpture differ from Romanesque sculpture?
Q7) _______________________ Method for reconciling conflicting theological opinions. Page 11
Q8) _______________________ Fraternal associations of craftsmen or merchants.
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Chapter 10: The High Middle Ages
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Q1) Who was the primary subject of the 300 sonnets and 49 canzoni songs in Petrarch's Canzoniere Songbook?
A)Augustina
B)Laura
C)Maria
D)Christina
Q2) What are the five parts of the Mass Ordinary?
Q3) _______________________Author of Lives of the Artists
Q4) What were the various responses that people had to the catastrophe of the plague?
Q5) _______________________ Refers to the 1300s in Italy
Q6) What style is exemplified by Simone Martin's Annunciation?
A)The Byzantine Style
B)The International Style
C)The Florentine Style
D)The Venetian Style
Q7) What shift occurred in the role of the musician and composer in the fourteenth century?
Q8) _______________________ Poetic form using sets of three lines with rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc, etc.
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Chapter 11: The Fourteenth Century: a Time of Transition
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Q1) _______________________ Collection of ancient Jewish learning
Q2) Which book of Machiavelli is often considered the first purely secular study of political theory? According to Machiavelli, what was the role of morality in the exercise of power? What justification did he offer for the use of cruelty or hypocrisy?
Q3) _______________________ Famous book by Machiavelli
Q4) Who was the most famous composer of the fifteenth century?
A)Guillaume de Machaut
B)Guillaume Dufay
C)Cosimo de' Medici
D)Marsilio Ficino
Q5) _______________________ Renaissance system of learning and reform
Q6) What two earlier "renaissances" were there in the 800s and 1100s?
A)Ninth-century Venice and the Byzantine Renaissance
B)Twelfth-century Paris and the Carolingian Renaissance
C)The eleventh-century Spanish and Netherlandish Renaissances
D)The Roman and Sicilian Renaissances of the eleventh century
Q7) Do you think Donatello's David emphasizes physical beauty or religious truth? Explain.
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Q8) _______________________ Four-lobed frame used in the Baptistery competition
Chapter 12: The Renaissance in the Fifteenth Century
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Q1) How did Raphael arrange the figures in Madonna of the Meadow?
A)In a column
B)In a pyramidal arrangement
C)In circular fashion
D)In a quadrangle
Q2) Who painted Venus of Urbino?
A)Giorgione
B)Sanzio
C)Titian
D)Strozzi
Q3) _______________________ A technique used in painting to organize figures through triangular forms
Q4) How did Venetian painters differ from painters in southern Italy during the Renaissance?
A)Venetians painted religious subjects, while southern painters focused on secular subjects.
B)Venetians painted frescoes, while southern painters focused on oil painting.
C)Venetians emphasized color, while southern painters focused on line.
D)Venetians painted nudes, while southern painters focused on clothed figures.
Q5) _______________________ An educated Venetian companion and entertainer
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Chapter 13: The High Renaissance and Mannerism in Italy
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Q1) What religious views did Renaissance humanists and Protestant reformers often share?
Q2) _______________________ A painting consisting of three separate panels
Q3) What European musical form were English anthems based upon?
A)Gregorian chants
B)motets
C)Protestant hymns
D)Catholic masses
Q4) Which Elizabethan composer wrote ayres for lute and voice?
A)Thomas Morley
B)John Dowland
C)William Byrd
D)John Dunstable
Q5) _______________________ Keyboard instrument which was played on a lap or table
Q6) Who explained how blood circulates by postulating the existence of capillaries?
A)Max Weber
B)John Napier
C)Sir William Harvey
D)William Gilbert
Q7) _______________________ Court painter and portraitist for Henry VIII
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Chapter 14: The High Renaissance in the North
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Q1) What was the name of the military religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola?
A)The Army of Christ
B)The Spanish Inquisition
C)The Society of Jesus
D)Soldiers of the Cross
Q2) What was the response of the Roman Catholic Church to Protestant criticism of its belief in purgatory, transubstantiation, and celibacy for the clergy? What is meant by the doctrine of "transubstantiation"?
Q3) Which German composer worked for 27 years as the music director at a church school?
A)Johann Sebastian Bach
B)Georg Frederic Handel
C)Heinrich Schütz
D)Jean Philippe Rameau
Q4) _______________________ Musical form in which the same themes are repeated and combined in counterpoint
Q5) _______________________ Sacred musical drama performed without action, scenery, or costume
Q6) _______________________ Novel telling a story involving a rogue or adventurer
Page 17
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Chapter 15: The Seventeenth Century: the Baroque Era
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Q1) _______________________ Eighteenth-century English literary group who revered Rome
Q2) Who was probably the principal author of the Declaration of Independence 1776)?
A)Alexander Pope
B)Thomas Jefferson
C)Benjamin Franklin
D)John Stuart Mill
Q3) What was the purpose of the Encyclopédie?
A)To facilitate schoolchildren's research
B)To classify contemporary knowledge
C)To codify religious and moral doctrine
D)To promote the monarchy of Louis XV
Q4) Which musical figure is most associated with the transition from Classical to Romantic music?
A)Bach
B)Handel
C)Beethoven
D)Brahms
Q5) Why did Montesquieu favor establishing a system of "checks and balances" in government?
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Chapter 16: The Eighteenth Century
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Q1) What is the story of Faust?
Q2) Which opera composer of the nineteenth century was most closely associated with the nationalist movement in Italy?
A)Verdi
B)Monteverdi
C)Puccini
D)Palestrina
Q3) _______________________ German term for a musical theme assigned to a specific character, idea or object
Q4) What was the subject of Henry David Thoreau's Walden?
A)The redefinition of men and women's roles in the nineteenth century
B)The intersection of the spiritual and the material world
C)Political justice and equality
D)The nature of human existence and of nature
Q5) Who composed the Symphonie fantastique?
A)Wagner
B)Chopin
C)Beethoven
D)Berlioz
Q6) _______________________ Theory of Charles Darwin about the origin of species
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Chapter 17: Romanticism, Realism, and Photography
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Q1) What was the reaction of the Paris audience in 1913 to the first performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring?
A)Delight
B)Sadness
C)Outrage
D)Indifference
Q2) _______________________ Formal name for the right to vote
Q3) How did Déjeuner sur l'Herbe break with the stylistic traditions of the past?
A)The figures were placed in broad, flat color fields.
B)The painting included both male and female nudes.
C)The painting used a pyramidal arrangement for the figures.
D)The painting's subjects were expressionless.
Q4) What was Friedrich Nietzsche's view of the condition of western civilization in the 1880s and 1890s?
A)Humans were not able to live happily in a secular society.
B)The chaos of the times was due to industrialization.
C)Stability could be gained by a return to Classical models and ideals.
D)People were enslaved by religion and democracy.
Q5) _______________________ French name given to the period 1870-1914
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Q6) _______________________ Impressionist composer of Claire du Lune
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Chapter 18: Toward the Modern Era: 1870-1914
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Q1) _______________________ Overthrow of the Tsars and the emergence of Marxist government in Russia
Q2) _______________________ School of design founded by Walter Gropius
Q3) _______________________ Film director of Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky
Q4) _______________________ Technique of sharp juxtaposition of film shots
Q5) What movement used art to destroy art?
A)Realism
B)Expressionism
C)Dadaism
D)Cubism
Q6) What impact did the "Great War" of 1914-1918 have on European society?
Q7) _______________________ Shift to a new key in music
Q8) What subject did Grant Wood focus on in his paintings?
A)Abstract shapes and lines
B)Biblical stories
C)Rural American scenes
D)Himself
Q10) _______________________ Viennese physician and pioneer of modern Page 21
Q9) _______________________ Musical form used in "King" Oliver's "West End Blues"
Q11) What are some of the characteristics of the modernist temper in literature?
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Q1) What is the main characteristic of Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum Bilbao?
A)Creative use of reinforced concrete
B)Vertical lines with no ornamentation
C)Classical columns and pediments
D)Free-flowing geometric shapes
Q2) Which of the following was among the most prominent subjects of Andy Warhol's art?
A)celebrities
B)women
C)cities
D)landscapes
Q3) _______________________ art that uses images from mass media and contemporary culture
Q4) What were the central characteristics and themes of Pop Art? How are these apparent in Andy Warhol's work?
Q5) ______________________ Danish existential philosopher (1813-1955)
Q6) _______________________ 20th-century philosophy investigating human freedom and responsibility
Q7) How did the existentialist movement influence the ideas of modern society?
Q8) _______________________ painting style that uses large blocks of color Page 23
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