Deck 2: Learning Moral Lessons From Stories

Question 1

Discuss the Trobriand myth of the grandmother who shed her skin and analyze its moral message.

Answer 1

No Answer

Question 2

Discuss the story of Abraham and Isaac and analyze its meaning.

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

Compare Plato's and Aristotle's views on whether art has a positive or a negative influence, and discuss the topic of violence in films and on television with reference to Plato's and Aristotle's theories.

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

List movies that seem to embody the story archetypes of the bargain, the good twin and the bad twin, and the quest.

Question 5

Do you agree with Plato that one should always be able to control one's emotions? Why or why not?

Question 6

Evaluate the question of good and evil as it is presented in the movie Pulp Fiction. What might Plato's reaction to this film be? Compare them to Aristotle's views.

Question 7

Name three didactic stories, describe their plots, and explain their moral lessons. Do you agree with these lessons? Why or why not?

Question 8

Discuss the phenomenon of Goethe's novel about Werther, a young man who commits suicide because of unrequited love: What were the effects of the publication? Why did this phenomenon happen? Do you think something similar could happen today, because of the inspiration of a film, a novel, or some other medium of fiction? If yes, what should be done to prevent it? If no, why not?

Question 9

Compare and contrast Plato's and Aristotle's views on whether watching a dramatic play, or in today's world, a film, has a positive or a negative influence. Compare their viewpoints to the current discussion about violence in films and on television. In your opinion, is one of the two viewpoints more accurate than the other? Why or why not?

Question 10

Evaluate Werther's reaction from your own point of view. Is suicide as a result of rejection a realistic scenario? Is it emotionally understandable? Is it morally defensible? Explain your viewpoint.

Question 11

Can Medea's actions be defended in any way? Is Jason free of blame? What do you think Euripides intended as his moral of the story?

Question 12

Is Aristotle right in claiming that feeling pity and fear for the victim cleanses us by making us understand that tragedy could happen to anyone, including ourselves?

Question 13

Medical students in many parts of the United States are exposed to stories of fiction in medical school in order to

A) learn to diagnose difficult medical problems.
B) learn about themselves.
C) learn what things are like from the point of view of the patient.
D) learn what it would be like to be a doctor.

Question 14

The immediate evolutionary benefit of a good story is

A) social bonding.
B) relaxation.
C) immediate moral knowledge.
D) happiness.

Question 15

Zombies hold great attraction and are popular in our culture because they represent the

A) glorified warrior who returns victorious from battles.
B) golem that becomes too strong and powerful for the creator to handle.
C) fear that people seem dehumanized in our postmodern world.
D) individual who is helpless against the forces of nature.

Question 16

The Trobriand people distinguish between three different kinds of stories. Which one does NOT belong on the list?

A) sacred stories about the beginning of the world
B) fairy tales told as entertainment
C) semihistorical accounts of heroes
D) profane stories exaggerating one's personal achievements

Question 17

Which of the following seems to be the moral message of gruesome fairy tales?

A) Evil is a continuous presence to which we sooner or later fall victim.
B) Evil things happen to only evil people.
C) Nothing is so bad that something good does not result from it.
D) Evil things can be vanquished with fortitude.

Question 18

A parable is

A) the same as a fairy tale.
B) an allegorical story for adults.
C) a concept from mathematics, describing a curve.
D) a story with two parallel endings.

Question 19

The ancient smith who makes a deal with the devil to get supernatural powers is a story that highlights the _____ theme.

A) quest
B) bargain
C) good twin and the bad twin
D) survivor

Question 20

The father of the prodigal son celebrated the son's homecoming because

A) the son had been away for thirty years.
B) the son had brought his new wife with him.
C) the father had given him up for lost.
D) the father was hoping that the son would help around the farm.

Question 21

Chapter 2 mentions several ways to use narratives to explore ethics. Which of the following is NOT one of these?

A) Some psychologists are using bibliotherapy to help children cope with difficult experiences.
B) Many medical students are exposed to literature and movies about persons with illnesses in order to have a better understanding of their patients.
C) Many philosophy students are now reading stories about persons seeking the meaning of life in order to facilitate their own search for meaning.
D) Some judges are sentencing offenders to reading novels and watching films in order to make them understand moral responsibility.

Question 22

Medea kills her two children because

A) she wants to remarry, and the children are in the way.
B) she wants to kill herself afterwards, and she believes a good mother does not leave the world without her children.
C) she is unable to take care of them because of extreme poverty.
D) she wants to get revenge on her husband Jason for leaving her.

Question 23

Who among the following spoke these words: "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers . . ."?

A) Jules, in Pulp Fiction
B) Vincent, in Pulp Fiction
C) Medea, in the play Medea
D) Werther, in The Sorrows of Young Werther

Question 24

Identify a true statement about Aristotle.

A) He was executed in Athens for "offending the gods and corrupting the youth."
B) He disapproved of a dramatic story.
C) He is sometimes called the father of Western philosophy.
D) He advocated enjoying fiction in moderation.

Question 25

Raymond Chandler's description of the detective hero most embodies the narrative archetype of

A) the bargain.
B) the quest.
C) the key.
D) the view.

Question 26

The feeling of being engrossed in a story one is "watching," and even determining its course, is known as

A) emotional absorption.
B) plot manipulation.
C) cathartic submission.
D) narrative immersion.

Question 27

The moral of the fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" is that you should never lie, because sooner or later people are not going to believe you anymore, even when you tell the truth.

Question 28

The criminal justice system has recently begun to experiment with sentencing convicted offenders to reading novels and watching films in order to teach them moral responsibility.

Question 29

There is a difference between stories that moralize and stories that discuss moral problems.

Question 30

A didactic story is a story that teaches a lesson.

Question 31

According to neuroscience, humans are hardwired to tell stories so as to make sense of their lives.

Question 32

There is a sharp distinction between factual and fictional stories.

Question 33

Even stories that are believed to be factual have an element of poetic creativity.

Question 34

Traditional myths have two purposes: to strengthen social bonding among people and to fortify the individual psychologically.

Question 35

Fairy tales have been described by psychoanalysts as pure wishful thinking.

Question 36

"Reality shows" are scripted to a great extent and their content and structure are heavily edited to keep the audience's interest.

Question 37

The story of the prodigal son belongs to the category of parables.

Question 38

NASA is trying to create exciting stories about space exploration in the hope that such novels can awaken an interest in space and science among young people.

Question 39

Anthropologist Carol Delaney asks in her book Abraham on Trial: The Social Legacy of Biblical Myth why over the years nobody has wondered how Sarah felt about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice her only child.

Question 40

Stories of the American West, called "Westerns," have changed very little over the last century.

Question 41

The human purpose of storytelling in early, pretechnological cultures was to knit one's tribe firmly together by setting up the rules and boundaries that would establish a group identity.

Question 42

Crime stories generally concern themselves with the battle between good and evil.

Question 43

The science fiction genre, sometimes referred to as "cyberpunk," portrays a dark and frightening future.

Question 44

We can learn moral lessons from morally good people but not from morally flawed people.

Question 45

If one is opposed to war, one can find no moral lessons in war stories.

Question 46

The Western Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood provides a strong pro-violence statement.

Question 47

The story of the golem character teaches a lesson of keeping a moral perspective in our undertakings.

Question 48

The Pygmalion story type is a warning against unscrupulous creativity: You may be creating a monster.

Question 49

In the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, Werther kills his beloved Lotte because she has broken up with him.

Question 50

Plato believed in censorship in his ideal state because he did not trust people to know what was good or bad for them.

Question 51

Aristotle's idea of catharsis meant that we should purge all sex and violence from art.

Question 52

Aristotle viewed art as dangerous because it inspired violent emotions.

Question 53

Greek drama began as religious pageants at the annual festival of Dionysus in Athens.

Question 54

As a young adult, Oedipus is told that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother.

Question 55

Oedipus unwittingly kills his adopted father to fulfill the prophecy.

Question 56

Aristotle believed that a good tragedy does not have to rely on what we today would call special effects.

Question 57

Socrates was a student of Plato, who was himself a student of Aristotle.

Question 58

The term "folktale" is a generic term for stories told orally within any given culture and then written down at a later time in history.

Question 59

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the fable, which had previously been enjoyed by adults, was introduced to children.

Question 60

Aristotle claimed that "Dramatic poetry had a most formidable power of corrupting even men of high character. . . ."

Question 61

Plato warns against the dangers of letting one's emotions run free when watching a tragedy, but he also warns against laughing when watching a comedy.

Question 62

Umberto Eco, in The Name of the Rose, creates a pastiche of Aristotle's lost work on comedy.

Question 63

Raymond Chandler's description of the fictional detective suggests that the detective should be a perfect human being.

Question 64

In Pulp Fiction, Jules and Vincent retrieve a briefcase full of jewelry from the gangster Wallace.

Question 65

Fairy tales at the time when the Grimm brothers collected the stories were folktales that were told primarily by adults to children.

Question 66

Medea kills her own children to get back at her husband Jason for having left her.

Question 67

Mingo might well be compared to Frankenstein's monster.

Question 68

Game of Thrones belongs to the hybrid category of "pseudo-historical fantasy" involving multiple story lines.