Week 8 Writing Prompt
8a. Compare and constrast Christianity and Islam based on the sources read for class.

8b. Analyze the Muslim attitude towards war as reflected in the documents you read.

8c. Describe the kind of life Muhammad prescribed for his followers.

Week 7 Writing Prompt
7a. Using the primary source readings for 10/14, evaluate the difficulties of building, or even maintaining, a fully functional civilization based on early Christian thought. What issues would early Christians have to deal with in creating a "Christian" civilization?

Week 6 Writing Prompts
6a. In what ways do you find evidence of a pronounced "rationalism" in Greek thought?

6b. In what ways do you find evidence of "political intensity" in the documents for this week?

6c. Do you find any similarities between "Mediterranean" political practices or thought and that of the United States?

Writing prompts for Week 5
What are the differences between the kind of government and society represented in the excerpts of the Arthashastra and that evident in Ashoka's edicts?

What problems might Ashoka and his heirs have had implementing to type of government he envisioned?

How would you compare the status of women in India with those in the ancient Near East?

What part of an individual's life were controlled by family and local communities?

What are the key similarities and differences between Buddhism and Hinduism based on the excerpts of the Dhammapada and Bhagavad Gita?

In what ways did the kinds of thought evident in the Dhammapada and the Bhagavad Gita differ from that we saw in China?

Writing Prompts for Week 4
Daoism represents a radically different understanding of the nature of the world and of man's place in it from that seen in the texts from the Near East. Briefly compare and contrast the value systems represented in the two sets of works.

The documents we read for Week 4 suggest various principles according to which human societies could be ordered. What are these principles? What might be short-comings of each approach? To what extent would these principles be mutually incompatible? To what extent could they be woven together?

What is the relationship of the individual to the community in Chinese thought as represented in these documents?

Readings for 9/29

According to Ashoka, what are the principles according to which he wishes to live and rule?
What relationship does his style of government bear to the existing caste system and Hindu religion?

What evidence do you see of changes in practice over time?
How would you describe the status of women in ancient India?
What kinds of principles seemed to drive Kautilya's recommendations?
Could women possess property? What were the limitations on her rights in this regard?


What makes Kautilya's views on government "realistic?"
What kinds of responsibilities were placed on families and villages?

Readings for 10/1

Dhammapada

What makes us what we are?
How does one attain happiness?
What is the role of the "wise man?'
What are the four truths?
How does one overcome desire and become a Brahmana? Are works important?
What is the view of the body and of material life in this work?
What kind of view of the world is presented here?
What kind of engagement with the world is espoused in the Dhammapada?
To what does "saved from the flood" refer?

Bhagavad Gita

What was the problem Arjuna had at the start of the first section?
Krishna explained to Arjuna why he should fight. What was the crux of his answer to Arjuna's concerns?
What is Karma? What does Krishna say about duty (dharma)?
What is Brahman?
What is the relationship between Brahman and the world?

Announcement!
Please note that a more detailed assignment sheet is available on the syllabus.

Writing Prompts for Week 3
In Chapter 1, Stearns points out debates regarding the "deterioration of women's status" and over "agriculture as progress." To what extent are these appropriate questions? What are the assumptions made by the titles of these debates? To what extent do these debates reflect our efforts to understand the past? To what extent do they reflect our efforts to understand or evaluate the world around us now? Are these "objective" questions, or are they culturally determined?

Writing Prompts for Weeks 1 and 2
Stavrianos comments (p. 19) that human social organization has been as important a factor in human development as technology. What do you think? Was this true in the past? Is it true now?

Comment on Stavrianos's choice of categories for his "Lifelines." Would you make the same choices? What else might be considered? What are the strengths or weaknesses of his structure.

Readings for September 16
In the Epic of Gilgamesh we find lots of information about Mesopotamian society. What kinds of information does it provide about such things as daily life, social structures, or political institutions? We also learn quite a bit about Mesopotamian religion. How would you describe it based on Gilgamesh?
The Code of Hammurabi is also treasure of information about Mesopotamian society- social classes, economics, marriage, occupations, justice, and so on. What is the source of authority for Hammurabi's laws? What do you make of the "throwing in the river?" On what basis could you argue that this code marks a significant advance in law and the ordering of society?
What kinds of concerns are reflected in the excerpts from the Codes of the Nesilim and the Assyrians? What similarities or differences do you see to the Code of Hammurabi?

What is the relationship of God to the Hebrews in the excerpts from Exodus? To other people? What kinds of concerns are reflected in the excerpts you read? What similarities to or differences from the other legal codes do you see? How would you compare the Hebrews to their rough contemporaries in the Middle East?

How would you compare the mentality (mood, outlook) of the Egyptian documents with that of the Mesopotamian ones?
How would you describe the society described in Ptah-Hotep's advice? From where does wisdom come?