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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Harari uses the example of a child's imaginary friend to demonstrate the qualities of what term?

2. The first mega-empires appeared in what part of the world?

3. Harari asserts that "The Agricultural Revolution made" what element of the human condition "more important than it had ever been before" (100)?

4. What is NOT provided as an example of a full script?

5. What is the only creature on Earth who "can speak about things that don't really exist" (24)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the author emphasize his view that societal orders are imagined?

2. What does the author name as the most important step in convincing people to believe a shared myth?

3. What is Harari's assessment of the opportunities created by sapiens' use of fictive language?

4. Discuss Harari's suggestions regarding the use of humility when considering human history.

5. For what purpose does the author include a table at the start of the text that presents a timeline of human history?

6. What examples does the author provide for his claim that societal orders are imagined, rather than objective?

7. What evidence does Harari provide for his conclusion that foragers had been better off than their counterparts living after the dawn of the Agricultural Revolution?

8. Discuss the significance of the author's focus on fictive language.

9. What is the function of a template for collective action within a society?

10. Analyze Harari's use of the term “curtain of silence” (61) within his discussion of our limited understanding of human history.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What message is Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens sending regarding the nature of shared myths?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the use of Biblical allusions within Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens.

Essay Topic 3

How is the theme of subjective well-being portrayed in Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens? Examine the author's treatment of and messages regarding subjective well-being throughout the book.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,120 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample