CULTURES AND TRADITIONS I

 

FINAL EXAMINATION

DECEMBER 13, 1999

 

This examination has three parts. Please write on each part, putting your answers in the blue books provided. Clearly label each blue book with your name and the parts (e.g. Part I, Part II or Part III) that it contains. In each part, please use numbers or letters to identify your answers. Your answers should include references to specific readings, authors, lectures, people, places and approximate dates wherever appropriate. Be careful to observe the suggested times.

 

PART I (30%)—about 55 minutes

Pick FIVE (5) of the following eight pairs. Briefly identify each item in the pair (who, what, where, when, why important, and for the quotations, who said it and in what text) and describe a significant relationship between them (e.g. compare, contrast, or a mix of both). For the art work, you need not give the artists' names nor the dates of the work. Each answer should take about 1 page in a blue book, depending on your handwriting. Please use Arabic numerals to indicate which pairs you have chosen.

1) arete/te

2) see the pictures on a separate page

  1. A. "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them

[him]; male and female he created them.

    1. "And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman

and brought her to the man."

  1. A. "I would rather see her lovely step

and the radiant sparkle of her face

than all the war chariots in Lydia

and soldiers in shining bronze."

    1. "we’re the Emperor’s armies

growing old, getting gray

ten thousand miles from home."

  1. Orestes/Telemachus
  2. Job/Elie Wiesel
  3.  

     

     

     

     

    -2-

     

  4. A. "I will make thee an Imam to the Nations."
    1. "I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."
  1. A. "The cause of human suffering is undoubtedly found in the thirsts of the physical body and in the illusions of worldly passions."
    1. " The way according to which people conduct their lives is this. If they have a secure livelihood, they will have a secure heart."

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR PARTS II AND III: In your essays, organize your thoughts and make sure that you write clearly and to the point and avoid lengthy introductions or retelling of the story line or plot (all your instructors have read the material). Shape your essays and do not tell all that you know and support your argument with reference to what you have read, seen, or heard.

 

 

 

Part II (30%) -- about 55 minutes

 

Please write on one (1) of the following four questions. Use capital "A" or "B"

or "C" or "D" to indicate which question you are answering. Make sure that you use as least two

modules or sections in creating your answer.

 

  1. Select two writers from two modules or thematic sections and explain how these writers might respond to the question Thucydides provokes in his description of the plague that struck Athens in 430 BC. Is human nature laid bare by a natural disaster?
  2. The Chinese word for "culture" or "civilization" is wen and the Greek word for the
  3. same thing is kosmos (=order), then what is the best way to insure that a society will

    be truly wen or kosmos; i.e. truly cultured or civilized? What values or practices must

    a cultured society include? Exclude? Why? Write an essay in which you answer these

    questions by drawing upon several thinkers from two parts of the course.

  4. From Odysseus to the Chinese Ghost Stories we’ve read a number of different accounts of the afterlife or spirit world. Discuss how one’s view of the afterlife influences how one behaves in this life. You might reflect on Odysseus’ visit to the underworld, or Gilgamesh’s journey, or Buddhist teachings.
  5.  

     

    -2-

     

  6. Compare and contrast the notions of the ideal state as discussed in Plato’s Republic and

either the Analects or Mencius or Han Fei Tzu or the Tao Te Ching or elsewhere. In particular, which would you model your governing on and why?

 

 

Part III (40%) -- about 70 minutes

Please write on one (1) of the following two questions. Use capital "A" or "B" to indicate which question you are answering. Note that you should draw on all of the semester’s material in crafting your answer.

 

A). Justice is an elusive goal in any culture. How did the Greeks view it, and the Chinese treat

it? How is it reflected in many of our other readings? Obviously, the approaches are varied.

Explore the search for justice in a variety of contexts and discuss differences and similarities.

 

  1. Write an essay on human nature using the following two quotations as your foundation,

including other material which might apply.

    1. " Now, when men suddenly see a child about to fall into a well, they all have a feeling of alarm and distress—not to gain friendship with the child’s parents, or to seek the praise of their neighbors and friends, nor because they dislike the reputation of lacking humanity if they do not rescue the child." (Mencius)
    2. " The development of the moral qualities is a more interesting problem. The foundation

lies in the social instincts, including under this term the family ties. These instincts are highly complex….Animals endowed with the social instincts take pleasure in one another’s company, warn one another of danger, defend and aid one another in many ways." (Darwin)