Humanities Final Exam
Define and explain what the humanities are
Humanities are activities such as stories, words, and ideas that are crucial to the lives of human beings and the world of existence. Humanities enable human beings to come into interaction with new individuals, places, beliefs, and ideas (Klein p. 67). Humanities enable human beings to focus on what is decisive in their lives by evaluating on the ideas, beliefs, and the way of lives of other individuals within different or similar societies. Humanities include Archeology, Ethics, Jurisprudence, Philosophy, History, Language/Linguistics, and Comparative Religion. Individuals have the opportunity to highlight what is right or wrong in relation to behavior. This is possible through interaction with other individuals or history. Humanities are also crucial in the process of facing challenges within families, communities, and nations. Humanities include the study of classical arts and history with the aim of identifying crucial ideas, values, and beliefs of other individuals.
Discuss the development of the humanities from their roots in early civilizations to modern culture
The development of humanities traces back to early days within the ancient Greece. During the early stages of developments, humanities were a single study. Humanities represented overall education for all society members. The development of humanities oversaw the rise of prominent figures such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. The works of these individuals have considerable influence in the modern aspects of humanities. There were radical changes to humanities during the period of Renaissance. The aspect of humanities was scholarly in nature thus eradication of applications that were practical in nature (Klein p. 57). This development was useful to transition into modern humanities. Modern humanities had considerable influence and questions in relation to scholarly tone humanities (during Renaissance). The modern humanities seek to answer the main purpose of being human. The modern humanities focus on several areas such as religion, performing arts, music, law, languages, and literature.
Identify influential figures and events
There are several influential figures and events in relation to humanity development, in the western culture. Some of the influential figures include Barrack Obama, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mohammed Ali, Apollos, Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and George Washington. Influential events in the history of western include Speakers for the dead, Prom Night in Mississippi, and Slavery day. Other influential figures include Thomas Aquinas, Benjamin Franklin, Erasmus, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Francis Bacon, John Amos Comenius, and Plessy (Mobile Reference p. 111).
Analyze significant movements and genres in the Western culture
Music
This is a genre with most of its constituting elements developed in the west. Many of the musical instruments used in the modern world have their origin in the west. These instruments included the violin, piano, pipe organ, saxophone, trombone and the Theremin (Randel, 299). The west introduced the instrument with the need to modify the image of music thereby suiting its purpose for entertaining and attracting more audience. The basis of music is from such western genres including rock, hip-hop, country songs and electronic (Randel, 299). The innovation for most of the popular music derives from the emergence of jazz and blues having their origin to the African-Americans.
Dance and performing arts
The most distinct and recognizable form of dance in the western culture was the ballet dance. The performance of the ballet was majorly for the elite. Other types of popular dance styles include step dance, square dance and the polka (Randel, 299). The dance styles take the form of folk dance. Soap opera was also introduced taking the form of a drama with its origin being in the USA. The airing of the soap started in the radios subsequently to the television. The innovation of the music video also has its origin in the west.
Architecture
The western culture also embraced religion contributing to their past which has Christianity embedded inside it. The religion started with dominance of the Roman Church, thereby taking over all the dominance that was under the philosophy, art and science (Muchimba, 142). The growth of religion came as the result of the need to unite Catholicism with Greek as proposed by the Christian pilgrims. However, the introduction of the protestant reformation leads to the weaning of the power held by the Pope. Consequently, this led to the emergence of various religions in the world.
Appreciate how the humanities relate to their personal or professional life
Humanities relate to personal life in the exchange of ideas, beliefs, and values from different areas. Since individuals have the opportunity to interact with different human beings, places, and ideas, they enhance their attitude towards evaluation of ethical issues. They decide on what is acceptable or wrong in relation to moral conduct of the society. Humanities apply different ideas and beliefs to come up with concrete information on how to face current and future challenges. Influential figures limit the extent of their interaction thus the ability to minimize emotional and personal attributes. This minimization enables humanities to execute their professional roles effectively and efficiently. Humanities play crucial roles in shaping the lives of influential figures as they aim to change or influence lives in different places.
Works Cited
Klein, Julie T. Humanities, Culture, and Interdisciplinarity: The Changing American Academy. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. Print.
MobileReference, . Calendar of Historical Events, Births, Holidays and Observances. Boston: MobileReference.com, 2007. Internet resource.
Randel, D. M. The Harvard dictionary of music. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007.
Muchimba, Felix. Liberating the African Soul: Comparing African and Western Christian Music and Worship Styles. Colorado Springs, CO: Authentic Pub, 2007. Print.
