Discussion Post: World Culture
We will be looking at a set period from our past. Although these are our ancestors, it will seem like we are studying a distant planet, inhabited by people with the strangest of habits. Fortunately, these subjects of our observation give us abundant clues about who they are. Their art, their writing, their technology, the way they do business, the way they govern themselves all feed into a picture we will attempt to paint for ourselves each week. Understanding who they were will help us understand who we are.
You will be given three or four questions pertaining to important topics covered in the materials provided in the question itself, the textbook, the lectures, the other materials provided, and my comments in my Live Session.
• The Abolitionist movement gained a voice in the years before the Civil War. The writings and publications of the Abolitionists helped to convince America that slavery was wrong. The art of the time did so as well. A new technology also added to the Abolitionist case against the inhumane nature of slavery, photography. Choose a painting and painter who championed the Abolitionist cause and compare them to photography from the time.
• After ten years of occupation by Federal troops, the South finally managed to throw off Federal control and to make sure that Reconstruction would fail. That being said, the Federal reconstruction effort had some remarkable successes. Explain one good thing that came from Reconstruction and then explain one way that the old Southern planter elite worked to make Reconstruction fail.
• Painting, drawing, etching, and photography were all used to capture images of the American Civil War. How did photography change the way the public experienced war? Is painting/drawing/etching a better way to communicate what is happening in a war or is photography superior? Why? Who were these new photographers and how did they work?
• American landscape painting began to show the world and Americans themselves what a beautiful and vast country we had. Choose two landscapes from this period and tell us what they say about the America of the time. What role do people play in these paintings?
• Haussmann faced the same problem Louis XIV had faced...a capital city which could take control of the government. He was tasked with creating a different solution. What did he do? What impact did his work have on the ability of a revolutionary force to take over the national government? What impact did his work have on the different classes within French society?
• We have discussed Europe's love of Chinese and Indian goods. How did they react to what they found in Japan? Use two examples to demonstrate your point. How and why did Japan "open up"?
The response should include a reference list. Using double-space, Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.