Deck 1: The Humanities: a Shining Beacon

Question 1

Leonardo da Vinci is considered a creative genius mainly because he

A) discovered the circulation of the blood long before William Harvey.
B) excelled in and combined different artistic and scientific disciplines.
C) painted the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world.
D) was the first to draw the human form using realistic proportions.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The humanities are important to the process of critical thinking because they

A) offer a window into understanding how people thought long ago.
B) show us the few models of excellence that are worthy of study and reflection.
C) allow us to reflect on and consider what we read, see, and hear.
D) show us the right way to think about life and art.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Concerning beauty, it may be said that

A) a work portraying the grotesque or ugly cannot give pleasure.
B) people might disagree about whether a particular work is beautiful.
C) the arrangement of a work can be seriously flawed yet still be beautiful.
D) the universal popularity of the Mona Lisa proves that culture does not play a role in beauty.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The gift of the humanities that can be seen as offering a release from the structured pattern of meeting deadlines is

A) beauty.
B) ideas.
C) beautiful movement.
D) language.

Question 5

Understanding the persistence of issues or the change of ideas over time is associated with which gift of the humanities?

A) beauty
B) a deeper sense of the past
C) ideas
D) language

Question 6

By beauty, we refer to artworks or other objects that are

A) adorned or decorated lavishly.
B) naturally shining in ways other objects are not.
C) pleasing and right in the arrangements of their parts.
D) surprising, arresting, and bizarre.

Question 7

Concerning humanism, Renaissance scholars believed that people could become fully human only if they

A) looked beyond Europe to the works of Asia and Africa.
B) combatted the social injustices of the time.
C) developed skills in critical thinking.
D) studied the best works of classical Greece and Rome.

Question 8

Using the Socratic method means teaching by

A) asking questions.
B) delivering lectures.
C) reciting witty sayings.
D) studying classical models.

Question 9

Studying the arrangement of colors on a canvas or the appeal of a face is a part of which gift of the humanities?

A) beautiful movement
B) beauty
C) ideas
D) language

Question 10

Which poet wrote his poetry using informal language?

A) Edgar Degas
B) Geoffrey Chaucer
C) Oscar Wilde
D) Taylor Mali

Question 11

Which statement best paraphrases Socrates's definition of justice?

A) Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
B) In a just society, justice must be accepted and adhered to by all.
C) It is the burden of the ruling party to make laws that are in its own best interest.
D) People can break the law if they feel it isn't a just law.

Question 12

One of the goals of thinking about the humanities is to become

A) a classicist.
B) a leader of a Socrates café.
C) a Renaissance man.
D) an infinite person.

Question 13

Redefining the humanities for the wider world means

A) learning about the great works of Greek and Roman culture.
B) maximizing the number of years one can stay alive.
C) being open-minded and receptive to ideas from around the globe.
D) understanding that true beauty lies within us, not outside us.

Question 14

Being an "infinite" person can best be described as

A) expanding our knowledge and our capacity for understanding ourselves and others.
B) immersing ourselves in the experiences of those who came before us.
C) increasing our aesthetic pleasure by experiencing many viewpoints of the beautiful.
D) transforming intuitions into exciting ideas to develop our own thinking skills.

Question 15

Studying the humanities-especially poetry and literature-allows us to

A) follow the rapid shifts that are part of everyday talk.
B) acquire models for how to say things that prompt others to notice.
C) memorize long passages from the works of great authors such as Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde.
D) use social media and communicate casually.

Question 16

When people debate puzzling questions such why an object gives pleasure, or of the nature of justice, which gift of the humanities are they partaking in?

A) beauty
B) a deep sense of the past
C) ideas
D) language

Question 17

The process by which scholars analyze and interpret the works of others is known as

A) humanism.
B) critical thinking.
C) scholarly discipline.
D) the Socratic Method.

Question 18

Heraclitus demonstrates the artistry of language when he offers a shorthand way of stating that life constantly changes in the phrase

A) "A man cannot step into the same river twice."
B) "And yet he seemed busier than he was."
C) "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
D) "To be or not to be-that is the question."

Question 19

The pleasure that we have in response to beauty is said to be

A) aesthetic.
B) critical.
C) humanistic.
D) impersonal.

Question 20

Geoffrey Chaucer and Oscar Wilde are noteworthy because they contributed to which gift of the humanities?

A) beautiful movement
B) beauty
C) ideas
D) language

Question 21

Why were the humanities disciplines expanded during the Renaissance?

Question 22

Name a work of the humanities that offers one of the greatest gifts to humanity. Consider the classifications within the section entitled "Gifts of the Humanities" and explain how it offers such a gift.
I. Identify a significant work of art or culture.
II. Choose a classification from the gifts of the humanities.
III. Explain how the work exhibits or embodies that feature.

Question 23

Think about the section entitled "Becoming an 'Infinite Person.'" Describe in your own words what it means to be a Renaissance person. Based on your knowledge of your culture in the present day, define what disciplines or skills a modern "Renaissance person" might need to master, and explain why you picked those particular disciplines or skills.
I. Describe a Renaissance man or woman
a. diverse range of interests
b. broad achievements
II. List the attributes of a modern person that would make her or him a modern equivalent of a Renaissance man or woman.
III. Explain why these attributes are important features of modern society.

Question 24

Reread the discussion of the Society for Philosophical Inquiry movement's concept of the Socrates café. If you were to attend a Socrates café, what puzzling question of past or present would you like to hear discussed and why, based on the purpose of this café?
I. Present a question or topic appropriate for Socrates café.
II. Explain the question or topic.
III. Describe why the topic is puzzling and appropriate.

Question 25

Define the term "humanism."

Question 26

Briefly explain why the humanities are unlimited or "infinite."

Question 27

How is dance an expression of "beautiful movement"?

Question 28

Look carefully at Isamu Noguchi's Water Stone. How does such a work evoke the questions or issue of "beauty" as defined in the chapter? In your answer, list three elements of the painting that might engage or repel viewers aesthetically in determining whether it is beautiful or not.
I. Respond to personal preference of beauty.
II. Include the idea that beauty is the result of an arrangement of elements.
III. List at least three of these aesthetic elements: color, texture, medium, movement, and representation.

Question 29

Explain how the humanities offer us a "deeper sense of the past."

Question 30

The section on a deeper sense of the past suggests that there is a relationship between the works of other ages and those of the present day. The chapter presents a number of artworks from the past. Choose one and talk about the extent to which the issues or the standards of beauty in the work persist in works of today with which you are familiar.
I. Choose a work.
II. Describe the issues or features of that work.
III. Describe how the same issues or standards are applicable in a modern work.