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Quiz for Reading the American Past, Chapter 1

Quiz for Reading the American Past, Chapter 1

Document Links

Document 1-1: A Taino Origin Story

Document 1-2: A Penobscot Origin Narrative

Document 1-3: Genesis: The Christian Origin Narrative

Document 1-4: Aristotle on Masters and Slaves

Choose the best answer to each question.

Question

1. What did all of the human transformations in the Taino's origin story have in common? (See Document 1-1: A Taino Origin Story)

They all turned into powerful lords and kings.

They were transformed for their sins.

They were transformed into parts of nature.

They turned from gods into mortal beings.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is c. All the transformations that take place in the Taino origin story change human beings into parts of the natural environment, such as plum trees, birds, or fish.

Question

2. Which of the following descriptions correctly characterizes the "Great Being" in the Penobscot origin story? (See Document 1-2: A Penobscot Origin Narrative.)

The "Great Being" was a fatherly figure looking down from the sky.

This godlike entity appeared in natural phenomena such as crashing waves or winds.

The "Great Being" was an abstract entity the Penobscot carried inside of them.

The "Great Being" appeared as a person very much like the Penobscot themselves.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is d. Joseph Nicolar's account describes Klose-kur-beh, "The Man from Nothing," waking up next to the "Great Being," who was "a person like unto himself."

Question

3. According to the Christian origin narrative, what consequences do women suffer because Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? (See Document 1-3: Genesis: The Christian Origin Narrative.)

They were to live in exile and isolation from mankind.

They were to suffer the pains of childbirth.

They were to obey God's word and command at all times.

They were to sacrifice themselves for their hungry children.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is b. As a punishment for Eve tasting the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God declared that "in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children."

Question

4. How did Aristotle characterize the relationship between human souls and bodies? (See Document 1-4: Aristotle on Masters and Slaves.)

Whereas bodies die and wither, souls live eternally.

Souls naturally rule over bodies in all animate beings.

Human existence is a constant struggle between soul and body.

Whereas masters' bodies have souls, those of slaves do not.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is b. Aristotle reasoned that animate beings are composed "of soul and body, with the former naturally ruling and the latter naturally ruled."

Question

5. Why did Aristotle conclude that the rule of the master was different from that of the statesman? (See Document 1-4: Aristotle on Masters and Slaves.)

Whereas masters must use force and violence, statesmen must use persuasion.

Statesmen rule over freemen and equals, whereas masters rule like monarchs over inferiors.

Statesmen rule over men with souls, whereas masters rule over slaves without.

The rule of statesmen prevents barbarism, whereas the rule of masters perpetuates it.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is b. Aristotle stated that statesmen rule over equals who are naturally free, whereas masters rule over those who are natural slaves.

Question

6. What shared principle appears both in the Christian origin narrative in Genesis and in Aristotle's lecture on the relationship between masters and slaves? (See Document 1-3: Genesis: The Christian Origin Narrative and Document 1-4: Aristotle on Masters and Slaves.)

In both accounts, men have received a divine order to subjugate the earth and make it their own.

Aristotle, as well as Genesis, warned of the dangers of democracy and an excess in individual freedom.

Both Aristotle and Genesis attempted to justify men's mastery over women.

In both texts, God is an abstract concept human beings draw upon to legitimize social hierarchy.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is c. Aristotle and Genesis both liken the relationship between men and women to that between a master and a servant.

Question

7. What important difference exists between the Taino and Penobscot origin stories? (See Document 1-1: A Taino Origin Story and Document 1-2: A Penobscot Origin Narrative.)

While women were derived from men in the Taino story, the ultimate sacrifice of a woman (the first mother) is responsible for the survival of the Penobscot in their origin story.

While the spiritual world of the Taino was dominated by good and evil spirits, the religion of the Penobscot included only one "Great Being."

In contrast to the origin story of the Taino Indians in the Caribbean, the religion of the Penobscot centered on the importance of the ocean.

Unlike Pané's account of the Taino in the Caribbean, Nicolar's telling of the origin story of the Penobscot revealed his superstition and fear of foreign beliefs.

Correct

Incorrect. The answer is a. Whereas women were derived from men in the Taino story, the ultimate sacrifice of a woman (the first mother) is responsible for the survival of the Penobscot in their origin story