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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. Hobsbawm claims that in Wales a native legal system was abolished and the old _______ was outlawed.

2. The spread of Highland dress was brought about by the Highland Society in _____ in the eighteenth century.

3. _______ was created out of a movement to moralize and evangelize the Welsh people.

4. The book asserts that traditions are invented when old ____ forms are deliberately not used or adapted.

5. Prior to the myth of the Highland culture, the Scottish people were merely an overflow of ________.

Short Essay Questions

1. Where were the Highland regiments fighting when they took on the wearing of the kilt?

2. What specific group of leaders began to struggle to maintain Welsh culture, according to the book?

3. Why was it surprising that the Welsh cultural life was beginning to fall apart in the eighteenth to early nineteenth century?

4. What did Welsh scholars and patriots rediscover about their past as they began to notice interest declining?

5. What did James Macpherson do in order to help invent the history of the Scottish people?

6. What happened as a result of a loss of cultural self confidence, according to the book?

7. What are the three aspects of invented tradition that serve to keep it in place, according to this manuscript?

8. What was the story that was told about the Welsh in relation to Christianity and to the pagans?

9. When and why did the most common symbols of the Scotsmen develop, according to the book?

10. Where can exceptions to traditions be found, though some traditions have filled in the space abandoned by secular decline?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What's interesting about the invention of many traditions is that these were often created in order to control the people and their actions.

Part 1: How do you think traditions control your actions?

Part 2: Why do you think traditions are successful in controlling others in a society?

Part 3: How do you think a government might be able to create new traditions without anyone realizing their propensity for controlling the people?

Essay Topic 2

The concept of an invented tradition might be new to you, since this is something which is rarely discussed.

Part 1: Do you agree that some traditions are invented?

Part 2: How do you feel about the idea that some traditions that are held sacred were invented for less than positive reasons?

Part 3: Why do you think invented traditions continue to be born today?

Essay Topic 3

Nostalgia seems to be interwoven with the idea of tradition. That is, people who long for the past will honor traditions more readily.

Part 1: How might you define the idea of nostalgia today?

Part 2: Why do you think many people long to be a part of the past instead of looking toward the future?

Part 3: Are there some people who are more likely to be nostalgic than others? Who might these people include?

(see the answer keys)

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