World History Homework Two Answers - Student Two

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-- Renee StJ done --

1. What do you think was the main secret to Alexander the Great's enormous success?

He was homeschooled by Aristotle, who was one of the smartest philosophers who ever lived, which made him very good at tactical planning.

Right.

2. What about the Greek geography was unique and conducive to the development of democracy? Explain a bit.

Greece was very rough and mountainous, which made people cluster in smaller city-states instead of giant capitals, so places like Athens could more easily have democracy.

Good.

3. Explain the big advance in language mentioned in the lecture, which might have been even more significant than the invention of the wheel.

The big advance in language was the development of the alphabet, with individual letters. This made it much easier to create new words, especially abstract ones, since, in the cuneiform system, you had to make new complex symbols for every word.

Excellent.

4. Pick a significant advance in knowledge by the Greeks and comment on it.

The Greeks created the world's first philosophy, but I'm not sure how valuable it was before Christian scholastics and philosophers explained it in the light of God.

It was valuable, and your answer is not specific enough. (Minus 1).

5. Aesop's Fables: pick one you like best and explain why, or comment on all of them as a group.

I find Aesop's fables fascinating because they show just how much wisdom and important cultural ideas can be conveyed through oral tradition. Now many of them (especially the Boy Who Cried Wolf, and the Tortoise and Hare) are parts of our culture.

Your answer simply says they are important, without "explaining why" or giving an insight about "them as a group." Donald Duck is "part of our culture" but that doesn't make him significant historically. (Minus 1).

6. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle: who impresses you most, and why?

Socrates impresses me most because he was willing to die for his beliefs. Lots of philosophers talk about beliefs and freedom, but he was actually willing to die because he believed in the laws that convicted him. He also taught at the Academy, which was a lot like homeschooling of today.

Socrates was ordered to die, and it wasn't just for his beliefs. His students terrorized Athens. (Minus 1).

7. Pick an ancient people other than the Greeks and briefly describe them.

The Celts were the people who inhabited the British Isles long before they were colonized by Rome, as well as parts of the European continent. Their burial mounds (barrows) still dot the British countryside. I wonder how they built Stonehenge, as many think they did.

OK, but the theory of the Celts building Stonehenge has been discredited.

H1. Do you think Jesus taught in Greek? Explain.

I think Jesus probably taught in several languages, depending on what language his listeners understood, since that would be the most effective way to spread the Word. Most would have known Aramaic, some might have known Hebrew, some Greek, and maybe even the odd person knew Latin. If the Spiritual gift of tongues is the ability to speak foreign languages, he certainly would have had it.

You seem to overlook that some languages provide better tools and terms for conveying powerful concepts than other languages do, and that listeners at that time often understood multiple languages. However, I won't deduct any points here.

H3. Greek mathematics, philosophy, drama, literature and architecture. Which do you like best, and why?

I like the architecture most of all. Ever since the Greeks, we've used their style in our monuments, like the Parthenon in France and the Mall in Washington DC.

"The Mall"? The sod of grass that the Democrats are going to replace for $200 million now? Also, the Parthenon is in Greece, not France. (Minus 2).

H5. Write about anything related to the lecture.

I find it interesting that we still publish copies of the Iliad and Odyssey to this day, thousands of years after they were composed, and how parts of their stories, especially the Trojan Horse and Achilles' heel, are part of our culture. I wonder what other stories and poems like that were written in Ancient cultures but were long since lost, which could have been just as influential.

OK.
Score: 95/100. Your answers seem to miss the mark, but more open-minded attempts may result in improvement.