Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Listening to the Past: Denis Diderot’s “Supplement to Bougainville’s Voyage”

Select the best answer. Click Submit for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. How did Diderot’s narrator see the Europeans when they first arrived in Tahiti?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is d. The narrator correctly foretold the hardships Europeans would bring to his people.
Incorrect: The answer is d. The narrator correctly foretold the hardships Europeans would bring to his people.
1. How did Diderot’s narrator see the Europeans when they first arrived in Tahiti?

Question

2. According to the narrator, what principles guided Tahitian society?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is a. Diderot saw the Tahitians as “noble savages,” as people who were unspoiled by civilization and who lived by the “pure instincts of nature.”
Incorrect: The answer is a. Diderot saw the Tahitians as “noble savages,” as people who were unspoiled by civilization and who lived by the “pure instincts of nature.”
2. According to the narrator, what principles guided Tahitian society?

Question

3. In the narrator’s view, what were the objectives of Bougainville and his men?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is c. Despite European claims to the contrary, the narrator argued that the Europeans were motivated by nothing more than greed.
Incorrect: The answer is c. Despite European claims to the contrary, the narrator argued that the Europeans were motivated by nothing more than greed.
3. In the narrator’s view, what were the objectives of Bougainville and his men?

Question

4. According to the narrator, what did the Europeans have that the Tahitians needed?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is a. The narrator argued that the Tahitians had everything they needed and, therefore, had no reason to adopt European habits and practices.
Incorrect: The answer is a. The narrator argued that the Tahitians had everything they needed and, therefore, had no reason to adopt European habits and practices.
4. According to the narrator, what did the Europeans have that the Tahitians needed?

Question

5. On which of these did the narrator place the highest value?

A.
B.
C.
D.
Correct: The answer is d. The narrator thought it was foolish to work more than was necessary to meet one’s needs, “because in our eyes nothing is better than rest.”
Incorrect: The answer is d. The narrator thought it was foolish to work more than was necessary to meet one’s needs, “because in our eyes nothing is better than rest.”
5. On which of these did the narrator place the highest value?