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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. How does Boorstin characterize the Decameron?

2. What does Boorstin say the Renaissance offered to Shakespeare?

3. How does Boorstin characterize Suger's creation at the St. Denis cathedral?

4. Who was the first divinity according to the Rig Veda?

5. What should be the outcome of art according to the Byron epigraph?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Boorstin describe the birth of drama?

2. How does Boorstin characterize the Gothic style of art?

3. What innovation did Dante introduce to Western culture?

4. How does Boorstin characterize Cervantes' contribution to imaginative literature?

5. What contribution did the Egyptians make in building the pyramids?

6. How does Boorstin say the Japanese differ from Westerners in their architectural approach?

7. How does Boorstin characterize Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?

8. What contribution did the Egyptians make to writing and self-expression?

9. What improvement did the Greeks make in architecture?

10. How does Boorstin describe the Hindu contribution to imaginative culture?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Assess the proposition that Boorstin's inclusion of non-Western art and culture amounts to tokenism that reflects a Western bias.

Essay Topic 2

In autobiography, artists change themselves in the process of revealing themselves--putting their experiences down on paper seems to give them a new perspective, or free them. Using examples from the text, describe the difference between art that is a final product and art that is psychologically useful to the personal development of the author. Do they make different legacies? Can a psychological process be handed down?

Essay Topic 3

Make an annotated timeline and map to show Boorstin's progress through the history of imagination in World culture. Describe how you arrived at the graphic representation at which you arrived. Account, too, for Boorstin's departures from straight chronology.

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This section contains 743 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample