Respond in essay form to one of the two options below. Consult “Arts and Culture” book and if you use outside sources, be sure to quote and document each conscientiously; if you fail to cite an outside source, it won’t count. Be sure to offer appropriate support for your positions and to include concrete examples to back up your general points.
Essay is due DEC 14 – 6pm. Please do a thorough research on the project and the book and write a meaningful essay. Instead of focusing on length and repeating the ideas over and over, please be straight to the point using reasonable sources.
The essay options:
2) The German critic Walter Benjamin wrote that “[t]here is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.” Discuss Benjamin’s claim by examining at least two examples of significant artifacts that seem to bear the stamp of both civilization and barbarism. How can a single creation at once embody the noblest humanistic values and the basest human inclinations?
3) How would a Humanities survey course such as ours be different if it focused on creative expression by women? Consider works by women addressed in “Arts and Culture” and elsewhere in class—what generalizations, if any, can you offer about the concerns and approaches of women artists, philosophers, architects, writers, and musicians? Cite specific examples to support your claims.
