View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Leeming say the world originates in the Christian creation myth?

2. What is eschatology?

3. How does Leeming describe the Boshongo culture?

4. What is the creation myth called in Mesopotamia?

5. How does Leeming describe the Greek people's pantheon?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Leeming say the Great Mother represents?

2. How does Leeming say that pantheons can be described?

3. How does Leeming describe the Hebrew pantheon?

4. What contribution does Leeming say Hesiod made to Greek creation myths?

5. Describe the Hopi creation myth.

6. Where does Leeming say the figures of Supreme Beings came from in myths?

7. Describe the Hebrew creation myth.

8. How does Leeming describe the Norse pantheon?

9. Why does Leeming say that cosmogonies are predominantly feminine?

10. Describe the Mesopotamian creation myth.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How consistent are the myths from each of the cultures Leeming describes? Do the cosmogonies and the hero myths from Greece, say, demonstrate a unified Greekness? Is there a conflict in values between the different kinds of myths Leeming analyzes? Describe two myths that reveal a conflict in values within the one culture that tells them.

Essay Topic 2

Use two different metaphorical frameworks to analyze one myth. For instance, you could describe the myth as a metaphor for political, psychological, spiritual, linguistic, social, or historical realities. Which framework is "better" for analysis in this case? What makes one framework better than another? How can you say when a certain interpretation has gone too far?

Essay Topic 3

Leeming discusses the myths of a number of major cultures: Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Hebraic, Christian, Norse, and Native American. Based on what Leeming describes of their myths--their creation, hero, afterlife and apocalypse myths, as well as their god and goddesses, sacred places and objects and signs and symbols--how would you characterize the difference between two cultures?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 875 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample