CLEP: Humanities

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Questions 1 - 10
1

What are the three stages of societal consciousness discussed in Auguste Comte's The Course of Positive Philosophy?

Theological, Metaphysical, and Positive

Supportive, Derivative, and Elevating

Logical, Rhetorical, and Historical

Polytheist, Monotheist, and Atheistic

Theistic, Agnostic, and Scientific

Explanation

In his The Course of Positive Philosophy, Auguste Comte famously divided the history of societies up into three main periods. These periods are said to be characterized by their manners of explaining the causes of human experience. The first is the theological phase. In this stage, causes are explained primarily in terms of gods or a god. Then, in the "metaphysical" stage, abstract notions are used to explain the causes of things. Finally, in the "positive" stage, only "positive" (or posited) facts and scientific observations are the primary mode of explanation. Comte thought the final type of society was the highest and most developed. By doing so, he set up his own time's philosophical conception of knowledge as the pinnacle of human thought.

2

Passage adapted from "Because I could not stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson (1890)

Because I could not stop for Death—

He kindly stopped for me—

The Carriage held but just Ourselves—

And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste

And I had put away

My labor and my leisure too,

For His Civility—

What is the rhyme scheme for the above poem?

ABAB CDCD

ABCD ABCD

ABBA CDDC

AABB CCDD

AAAB CCCD

Explanation

A rhyme scheme identified by letter describes each rhyme with the same letter. Thus, since the poem's first and third lines rhyme, the first stanza should be marked as ABAB. Because the second stanza has a new rhyming word, the second stanza should be marked CDCD.

3

Which of the following works was NOT written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky?

The Cherry Orchard

Crime and Punishment

The Brothers Karamazov

The Idiot

Notes from Underground

Explanation

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian author of short fiction and novels. His works include everything on the list except The Cherry Orchard (1904) which was the last play written by Anton Chekov.

4

What is the Russian novel concerning a family's struggles between a father and three brothers?

The Brothers Karamazov

Anna Karenina

Notes From Underground

Taras Bulba

Crime and Punishment

Explanation

The Brothers Karamazov took Fyodor Dostoevsky over two years to write, and he intended the massive work as the first in a series, but he died four months after its publication. The novel concerns the Karamazov family, led by patriarch Fyodor Karamazov and his three sons of young adult age, the hotheaded Dmitri, the rational Ivan, and the faithful Alexei. Philosophical and emotional conflicts drive the plot and themes of the lengthy novel.

5

Federico Garcia Lorca is well-known among the art community for creating what kind(s) of artistic works?

Poetry and drama

Children's literature

Realistic landscape paintings

Abstract expressionist paintings

Ceramic vases

Explanation

Lorca is a well-known Spanish poet and dramatist; among his works are Odes and Suites, which are each collections of poetry, and El Publico (The Public), a play.

6

What is the early-nineteenth-century English novel about a young woman who plays matchmaker to the detriment of her own relationships?

Emma

Pride and Prejudice

Great Expectations

The Heart of Midlothian

Persuasion

Explanation

Jane Austen's Emma, published in 1815, deals with a genteel young woman dealing with romantic intrigues in Regency-era England. What sets Emma apart is its focus on its main character's foibles in attempting to play matchmaker with everyone she knows. Using her typical wit and satire, Austen portrays Emma's headstrong attitude getting in the way of her own life.

7

Oedipus Rex was written by __________________.

Sophocles

Herodotus

Galen

Thucydides

Euripides

Explanation

Sophocles was a playwright from Greece. He wrote three plays about Oedipus. Oedipus Rex, also known as Oedipus the King, was the most famous of those plays. Oedipus Rex is probably the most famous Greek tragedies ever written, especially since Sigmund Freud used it as the basis for some of his seminal works of psychology.

8

What is the Russian novel concerning a family's struggles between a father and three brothers?

The Brothers Karamazov

Anna Karenina

Notes From Underground

Taras Bulba

Crime and Punishment

Explanation

The Brothers Karamazov took Fyodor Dostoevsky over two years to write, and he intended the massive work as the first in a series, but he died four months after its publication. The novel concerns the Karamazov family, led by patriarch Fyodor Karamazov and his three sons of young adult age, the hotheaded Dmitri, the rational Ivan, and the faithful Alexei. Philosophical and emotional conflicts drive the plot and themes of the lengthy novel.

9

Gregorian chants were developed by clerics of which religious tradition?

Roman Catholic Christianity

Protestant Christianity

Sunni Islam

Rabbinic Judaism

Orthodox Christianity

Explanation

Developed in the ninth and tenth centuries in Western Europe, Gregorian chants are a simple, monophonic form of music used as sacred music by monks in the Catholic tradition. Gregorian chants helped spread the Latin Rite of Roman Christianity by having a common, uniform musical style for worship. Among certain monastic orders, the Gregorian chant is still a common form of worship.

10

Which of the following works was NOT written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky?

The Cherry Orchard

Crime and Punishment

The Brothers Karamazov

The Idiot

Notes from Underground

Explanation

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) was a Russian author of short fiction and novels. His works include everything on the list except The Cherry Orchard (1904) which was the last play written by Anton Chekov.

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