Deck 12: The Long Rise of the West

Question 1

The roots of individualism in the West go all the way back to:

A) the Greeks
B) Mesopotamians
C) the Hebrews
D) the Indo-Europeans

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Some of the very first characteristic(s) that promoted individualism were:

A) weakly elaborated kinship relations
B) private property in cattle
C) assemblies to discuss politics
D) kings were elected
E) a, b, c, d
F) none of the above

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Europe was different from the civilizations of Western, Central and Eastern Asia in that:

A) there was inadequate rainfall
B) mountainous areas make centralization difficult
C) states that had no systematic relationships with one another
D) a, b, and c
E) none of the above

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The first occupation (s) to support individualism was (were:)

A) craft production in the towns
B) trade among merchants
C) state administrators
D) lawyers
E) a, b, c, d
F) none of the above

Question 5

The first autobiographies arose out of:

A) double-entry bookkeeping by merchants
B) the adventures of knights during the Crusades
C) religious efforts to track spiritual progress
D) the need of craftsmen to track the stages of the firing processes for pots
E) none of the above

Question 6

The first known autobiography in the West was by:

A) Plato
B) Aristotle
C) Epicurus
D) St. Augustine
E) Roger Bacon
F) Kevin Bacon

Question 7

What made troubadours different from other entertainers is that:

A) they wrote mythic poetry against the Church's wishes
B) the wrote epic poetry
C) they wrote the first dramas
D) they were the first novelists
E) none of the above (they wrote lyric poetry)

Question 8

The social class for whom numeracy was most vital was:

A) priests
B) artisans
C) aristocrats
D) peasants
E) none of the above (merchants)

Question 9

The hero in Scandinavian mythology supports individualism in the West in his:

A) relationship with his clan
B) his introspection
C) his reputation
D) his independence from Fate
E) none of the above

Question 10

In the change in what constituted justice in England in the early 14th century we can see a rise:

A) from sacred to secular interpretations
B) a rise in objectivity
C) a rise in the importance to the written word
D) a, b and c
E) neither a, b or c

Question 11

What do the following have most in common: degrees of angles; planets are divided into orbits; painting into geometrical lines; double entry bookkeeping and musical notations:

A) the use of numbers
B) measuring
C) the use of sight
D) a, b, and c
E) neither a, b or c

Question 12

According to humanistic geographer Yi-Fu Tuan the most objective of all the senses is:

A) touch
B) taste
C) smell
D) sight
E) sound
F) body movement

Question 13

Medieval plays were different from early modern plays in that:

A) they had less character interaction
B) audiences were separated from the actors
C) audiences were more objective
D) the setting of the play was a single day
E) none of the above

Question 14

A thread that can be pulled through the changes over time in playwriting has the following implications:

A) a rise in the importance of the inner life
B) the growth of objectivity
C) the gauging of world events in probability terms
D) time-space displacement
E) a, b, c, d
F) none of the above

Question 15

Eurocentrism is a biased approach to describing and explaining human sociocultural evolution because:

A) Europe was always the most advanced region
B) The focus on Europe often results in little attention to what happened in other regions
C) The assumption that Europeans are superior to other people distorts explanations of why complexity and hierarchy emerged when and where they did
D) Europe is not a true continent because it is not separated from Eurasia by large bodies of water.
E) b and c
F) none of the above

Question 16

The capitals of empires were usually larger in population size than the capitals of semiperipheral capitalist city-states because:

A) capitals of empires were able to access more food and other resources
B) city-states did not have the biggest armies
C) the leaders of city-states were often distracted by their involvement in sports
D) empires concentrate wealth in their capitals by using military power to plunder and extract tribute from the regions they conquer
E) city-states were vulnerable to conquest by large empires
F) a, b, d, and e
G) none of the above

Question 17

Europe was eventually able to obtain hegemony over China because:

A) capitalism became the predominant mode of accumulation in Europe
B) capitalism and the competitive interstate system of Europe sped up the rate of innovation of military technology
C) China was less expansionist than were the European states
D) a, b and c
E) none of the above

Question 18

European feudalism:

A) had some interesting similarities with complex chiefdoms
B) was a very centralized system
C) subjected many cities to the power of strong kings
D) had a radical distinction between elites and commoners
E) was completely unique to Europe
F) a, c and d
G) none of the above

Question 19

Peripheral capitalism:

A) is an early form of capitalism
B) emerges once capitalism has become predominant in a core region
C) is an idea that is used to understand the expansion of coerced labor in the regions of European colonialism
D) leads to the development of underdevelopment in most the areas that were colonized by European states.
E) b, c and d
F) none of the above

Question 20

Capitalism became the predominant mode of accumulation in Europe before it did in other world regions because:

A) Europe did not have strong empires after the decline of the Western Roman empire
B) There were many semiperipheral capitalist city-states clustered near one another in Europe
C) European national states emerged in a context in which kings needed the support of finance capitalists
D) Cities that were relatively autonomous came under the control of merchants and finance capitalists
E) The competitive interstate system spurred the development of technology.
F) a, b, c, d and e
G) none of the above

Question 21

Portraits of individuals emerged as part of the Protestant Reformation.

Question 22

The importance of courtly love in the Middle Ages meant that the poets showed an unusual respect for the personal lives of women.

Question 23

Individualism in the Middle Ages included more people than in classical Greece.

Question 24

People in the Middle Ages were closer to living in the "here and now" than people living during the Early Modern period.

Question 25

In medieval playwriting the intentions of the actors were less relevant than their actions.

Question 26

In early modern plays there were more causal relationships built into the links between the acts of the play than there had been in earlier plays.

Question 27

The foundation for suspense in an early modern play is that anything is possible.

Question 28

There are no creations of illusions in medieval plays.

Question 29

Eurocentrism proves that objectivity is impossible in social science.

Question 30

The largest cities in a region are always the locations of the most important innovations that transform human societies.

Question 31

Relative sizes of cities indicate that China was the most developed polity in Afroeurasia from 1000 CE until the 18ᵗʰ century CE.

Question 32

Western Europe was a peripheral region of the Old Central System for thousands of years before it rose to global hegemony.

Question 33

European feudalism was similar in some important ways with systems that contained complex chiefdoms.

Question 34

Cities in Europe shrunk after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of Islam in part because European trade with Asia was cut off.

Question 35

Peripheral capitalism uses coerced labor to produce commodities for export.

Question 36

Capitalism became the predominant mode of accumulation in China before it emerged in Europe.

Question 37

Discuss how the Catholic Church supported individualism in the areas of
a) confession
b) personal salvation

Question 38

Contrast the differences in how Fortune was understood by the Greeks with how Fortune was understood in the Middle Ages.

Question 39

Connect the following processes in how they each promoted individualism:
a) How might religious confessions effect the new occupations such as state bureaucrat or the law?
b) How might the value of intentions (as opposed to actions) support the growth of courtly love

Question 40

Explain how the three following inventions in the Early Modern Europe mutually supported each other and the growth in objectivity.
a) Cartography
b) Absolute time
c) The calculation of commercial interest
d) Use of algebra
e) Use of musical notations

Question 41

Discuss how Eurocentrism has biased accounts and explanations of human socio-cultural evolution.

Question 42

Why is the location of the largest cities an important indicator of the timing of the rise of complexity and hierarchy in world regions?

Question 43

Why does the information contained in Figure 12.1 in the text contradict Andre Gunder Frank's contention that the rise of Europe to hegemony over East Asia was an abrupt event that occurred in the 18ᵗʰ century CE?

Question 44

Describe the trajectory of Europe in the Old Central System.

Question 45

Discuss the similarities and differences between feudal Europe and complex chiefdoms.

Question 46

Discuss the forces that led to Europe's reestablishment of long-distance trade with the East.

Question 47

Discuss the idea of "peripheral capitalism" as presented in Chapter 12.

Question 48

What are the main factors that allowed capitalism to become predominant in Europe before it became predominant in other world regions?