Outline for Chapter One, "The Dawn of Culture"

The Earliest Cultures:

1 The Paleolithic Period:
1 Wall paintings
2 Sculpture
2 The Neolithic Period:
3 Wall paintings
4 Architecture
Mesopotamia: the cradle of civilization:
3 Sumer
5 Architecture
6 Sculpture
7 Literature
4 Akkad
5 Babylon
6 Assyria
8 Sculpture
7 Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon
8 Persia
9 Sculpture
10 Architecture
11 Relief Sculpture
12 Religion
Readings:
9 The Epic of Gilgamesh, selected episodes
13 The Story of the Flood
14 The Return
15 The Death of Gilgamesh
Discussion Question for Chapter One: The Dawn of Culture

In a brief essay of 250-500 words (roughly one to two typed, double-spaced pages),
discuss the following question.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an Akkadian poem composed around 2500 B.C. It is the earliest
known epic. The theme of the poem concerns human beings search for immortality.
Write several paragraphs on Gilgameshs adventures by exploring questions raised in
the epic, such as:
1 What is the relationship between human beings and their deities?
2 How is Gilgamesh linked with the world of nature and animals?
3 What is the meaning of friendship, family, and public duty?
4 How did Gilgamesh live in the face of mortality?
5 What tests did Gilgamesh face throughout his life?
6 How does this epic inform the reader about ancient history?
Discussion Question for Chapter Two: Ancient Egypt
In a brief essay of 250 to 500 words (roughly one to two typed, double-spaced pages),

discuss the following question.Compare and contrast sculptures, relief sculptures, and
paintings from the Old to Middle to New Kingdoms. Refer to illustrations in our book in
your essay. Examine innovations of New Kingdom temples and tombs, such as greater
freedom of pose, wider variety of movement, and more complex figure groupings. But
also discuss how the basic conventions of earlier art endure, such as the frontal eye, the
physically impossible poses, and the arrangement of figures in zones of the register
system.
Humanities 101 Study Guide for Exam One (Chapters 1 and 2)
1

3
4

History:
1 Beginnings of Egyptian history
2 Union of Upper and Lower Egypt
3 Sequence of Mesopotamian cultures
4 Art/Language:
1 Cuneiform
2 Rosetta Stone
3 Hammurabi's Code of Laws
5 Sculpture:
4 Ka-Aper
5 Chefren
6 Mycerinus and Khamerernebty
7 Four Seated Figures of Rameses II
6 Painted reliefs:
8 Queen Tiy
9 Ti watching a Hippopotamus hunt
10 Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and Their Children Worshipping the Sun
11 Nobleman Hunting in the Marshes
Architecture:
7 Mastabas
8 Pyramids
9 Post and Lintel system
10 Ziggurat
11 Ishtar Gate
12 Stonehenge
13 Palace of Darius and Xerxes, Persepolis, Iran
14 Stepped Pyramnid of Zoser
15 Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
Religion:
16 Akhenaton and his monotheistic religion
17 Zoroaster
Literature:
18 Epic of Gilgamesh
19 Egyptian Lyric poetry
20 Akhenaton's "Hymn to the Sun"
21 "Song of the Harper"

Discussion Question for Chapter Three:

Aegean Culture and the Rise of Ancient Greece
In a brief essay of 250-500 words (roughly one to two typed, double-spaced pages),
discuss the following question.
Discuss the Homeric world view. How did the characters in the Iliad see themselves and
the world in which they lived? What is the theme of the Iliad, and in what ways can we
apply it to the modern world? Compare the image of Achilles to our modern idea of the
war hero. For example, do we give medals for the same attributes honored by the Greeks?
Humanities 101 Study Guide for Exam Two (Chapters 3 and 4)
1

History:
1 Early Aegean Civlizations
1 Cycladic
2 Minoan
3 Mycenaean
2 Sequence of Ancient Greek cultures
4 Geometric/Heroic
5 Orientalizing/Age of Colonization
6 Archaic
7 Classical
8 Hellenistic
Art:
3 Minoan:
9 The Toreador Fresco
10 The Snake Goddess
4 Mycenaean:
11 The Warrior Vase
5 Archaic:
12 Black-figure vases
13 Red-figure vases
6 Classical:
14 White-ground ceramics
7 Hellenistic:
15 The Battle of the Gods and the Giants
16 The Nike of Samothrace
17 Laocoon and His Sons
Architecture:
8 Minoan:
18 The Palace of Minos
9 Mycenaean:
19 The Palace of Mycenae
10 Archaic:
20 The Temple of Hera I at Paestum
21 The Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
11 Classical:

22 The Three Orders

23 The Propylaia
24 The Parthenon
25 The Erectheion
26 The Temple of Athena Nike
12 Hellenistic:
27 The Temple of Olympian Zeus
28 Pergamon's Altar of Zeus
Philosophy:
13 Pre-Socratics
29 Materialists: Pythagoras
30 Dualists: Herakleitos and Parmenides
31 Atomists: Leucippas and Democritus
14 Socrates
15 Plato
16 Aristotle
17 Skepticism
18 Stoicism
19 Epicureanism
Literature:
20 Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey
21 Plato, "The Phaedo" and "The Allegory of the Cave" from The Republic
22 Herodotus, from The History of the Persian Wars
23 Thucydides, from The History of the Peloponnesian War
Discussion Question for Chapter Five: The Roman World

In a brief essay of 250-500 words (roughly one to two typed, double-spaced pages),
discuss the following question.
Compare Virgils Aeneid to Homers Iliad. In what ways are they similar and in what
ways are they not? How does Homers "agenda" differ from that of Virgil? For
comparison, cite examples from the excerpts of theIliad and the Aeneid in our book.
Discussion Question for Chapter Eleven:
The Early Middle Ages and the Romanesque
In a brief essay of 250-500 words (roughly one to two typed, double-spaced pages),
discuss the following question.
The epic poem Beowulf begins with the funeral of Shild Shefing, a legendary Danish
king. Hrothgar is the king of the Danes at the time of the poem. His land is plagued by the
monster Grendel, who sneaks into his hall, Herot, nightly and eats several of his men.
Beowulf, the Geatish warrior, hears of Hrothgars troubles and travels with a group of
men to help Hrothgar defeat the monster. Thus, in the first 256 lines of the poem, we hear
about an excellent king and his exploits, a weak king and his troubles, and a young
fearless warrior. How do these passages suggest the themes of doom and fate (Old
English, "wyrd")?
Discussion Question for Chapter Twelve:

The Gothic and Late Middle Ages

In a brief essay of 250-500 words (roughly one to two typed, double-spaced pages),
discuss the following question.
The tales excerpted from Boccaccios Decameron in our book reflect contemporary
attitudes toward women. The first tale describes the illicit escapades that a monk and his
abbot each have with a young woman. The second tale tells the story of a noble woman
found guilty of adultery. In what ways do these tales suggest the contradictory and
disenfranchised position of women in fourteenth-century Italy? Cite examples from the
text to support your answer.
Humanities 101 Study Guide for Exam Four (Chapters 11 and 12)
1

History:
1 Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance
2 Anglo-Saxon England: 5th century migrations through Norman Invasion
3 The Crusades
Art & Architecture:
4 Bayeux Tapestry:
5 Manuscripts:
1 parchment/vellum
2 folio
3 cross or carpet page
4 Book of Kells
5 Lindisfarne Gospels
6 Romanesque architecture::
6 Santiago de Compostela
7 Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
8 Sainte-Madeleine, Vezelay
9 Autun tympanum, Last Judgment
7 Gothic architecture:
10 Saint-Denis, Paris
11 Notre-Dame, Paris
12 Notre-Dame, Chartres
13 Notre-Dames, Amiens
14 rose window
15 gargoyle
16 stained glass
Literature & Philosophy:
8 Literature:
17 Beowulf and Old English poetry
18 Song of Roland
19 Medieval Mystery Plays
20 Dante's Divine Comedy
21 Boccaccio's Decameron
22 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
9 Philosophy:

23
24
25
26
4

Thomas Aquinas and Scholasticism

Medieval University and the Seven Liberal Arts
Duns Scotus and Free Will
William of Ockham

Religion:
10 Monasticism and the medieval monastery
11 St. Benedict and the Benedictine Rule
12 Pilgrimages
13 St. Francis and Franciscan piety
14 Legend of the True Cross