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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 asserts that the last 500 years have demonstrated an "unprecedented growth in human" (248) what?

2. The sum total of money throughout the world, according to Harari, is what?

3. History's first known money consisted of what material?

4. More than what percentage of all money in the world "exists only on computer servers" (178)?

5. How many points lie on the Scientific Revolution feedback loop image provided by the author?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Harari's view of capitalism and what are two counterarguments he addresses?

2. What distinction does Harari make between biological poverty and social poverty?

3. What flaw does Harari point out within the philosophies of Postmodernist thinkers?

4. After Harari describes the rise of Europe as a locus of power in the world, what caveat does he make?

5. How does Yuval Noah Harari define culture and what does he assert about its mutability?

6. What is Harari's view of how the Cook expedition marked a turning point within European history?

7. What is the definition of the term "memetics" (242) and how do most scholars in the humanities feel about it?

8. What is Harari's message regarding people's tendency to discriminate against outsiders?

9. What does Harari see as the significance of the First Millennium BC?

10. For what purpose does Harari include the painting called Franklin's Experiment within the chapter entitled The Discovery of Ignorance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the author’s use of characterization methods to portray his own persona within the narrative. What effects do these characterization methods have on the themes and messages inherent in Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the significance of three of the text's main symbols. How do these symbols connect to the work's overall themes and messages?

Essay Topic 3

Examine how Yuval Noah Harari's book Sapiens invites readers to learn particular lessons from the history of humankind and to apply those lessons to their own lives in the modern world. How does Harari accomplish these goals and how do these goals relate to the overarching themes of the text?

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