Essay 1 – choose one INSTRUCTIONS: Select one (1) of the following questions and answer it in a 2-3 page typed essay (double spaced). You can go over this length if you need to, as long is the extra space isn’t taken up by repeating points/facts you’ve already given, or “padding” the answer with things irrelevant to the question. Give the question number or repeat the question at the beginning of the essay so I know which question you are attempting to answer. Use your textbook and class notes as sources. You can use other sources (books or magazine/journal articles) as well if you want to, but because of the inaccurate and often just plain crazy nature of many internet sources, I would prefer you not use electronic sources. THIS ESSAY NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you quote your textbook or another source directly (word for word) to back up an argument or illustrate a point, you need to put the author’s words in quotation marks. CHANGING ONE OR TWO WORDS DOES NOT MAKE IT YOUR OWN! When you use a direct quote this way, you need to say from what source and where in that source you are taking the quote. You can do this either by using footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations. In a footnote, you provide the source of the quote at the bottom of the page, with a number for each quote, inserted at the end of the quote and reproduced with the source at the bottom of the page. Most word processing programs have an automatic feature to insert a footnote after your quote (in Microsoft Word scroll down under “Insert,” click on “Reference,” and select “Footnote”). So after the first quote you will have a small number 1, and at the bottom of the page the first footnote giving the source with the following information: author, title (italicized), then in parentheses place of publication followed by a colon, then the publisher and the date, then close parentheses and provide the page number of your quote. For example: 1 Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: from Olmec to Aztec. 4th Edition. (London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006), p. 46. If you use end notes, the source of each quote will be numbered as well, but listed at the end of the text of your essay. Use the same format for describing sources. If you use parenthetical citations, after each quote, in your text, put the last name of the author, the date, a colon, and the page number, so at the end of the quote would be (Miller 2006: 46). If you use parenthetical citations, than you need to list the full information for each source you use in a list of references at the end of your paper. You can title this list References Cited or Bibliography. For each book or published source you use, give the author (last name first), title, edition, place of publication, and date. So: Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica. 4th Edition. London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006. You can also use footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations to provid ...

1. Essay 1 – choose one
INSTRUCTIONS: Select one (1) of the following questions and
answer it in a 2-3 page
typed essay (double spaced). You can go over this length if you
need to, as long is the
extra space isn’t taken up by repeating points/facts you’ve
already given, or “padding”
the answer with things irrelevant to the question. Give the
question number or repeat the
question at the beginning of the essay so I know which question
you are attempting to
answer. Use your textbook and class notes as sources. You can
use other sources (books
or magazine/journal articles) as well if you want to, but because
of the inaccurate and
often just plain crazy nature of many internet sources, I would
prefer you not use
electronic sources.
THIS ESSAY NEEDS TO BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. If you
quote your textbook or
another source directly (word for word) to back up an argument
or illustrate a point, you
need to put the author’s words in quotation marks. CHANGING
ONE OR TWO
WORDS DOES NOT MAKE IT YOUR OWN! When you use a
direct quote this way,
you need to say from what source and where in that source you
are taking the quote. You
can do this either by using footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical
citations. In a footnote,
you provide the source of the quote at the bottom of the page,

2. with a number for each
quote, inserted at the end of the quote and reproduced with the
source at the bottom of the
page. Most word processing programs have an automatic feature
to insert a footnote after
your quote (in Microsoft Word scroll down under “Insert,” click
on “Reference,” and
select “Footnote”). So after the first quote you will have a small
number 1, and at the
bottom of the page the first footnote giving the source with the
following information:
author, title (italicized), then in parentheses place of publication
followed by a colon, then
the publisher and the date, then close parentheses and provide
the page number of your
quote. For example:
1 Mary Ellen Miller, The Art of Mesoamerica: from Olmec to
Aztec. 4th Edition.
(London/New York: Thames and Hudson, 2006), p. 46.
If you use end notes, the source of each quote will be numbered
as well, but listed at the
end of the text of your essay. Use the same format for
describing sources. If you use
parenthetical citations, after each quote, in your text, put the
last name of the author, the
date, a colon, and the page number, so at the end of the quote
would be (Miller 2006: 46).
If you use parenthetical citations, than you need to list the full
information for each
source you use in a list of references at the end of your paper.
You can title this list
References Cited or Bibliography. For each book or published
source you use, give the
author (last name first), title, edition, place of publication, and

3. date. So:
Miller, Mary Ellen. The Art of Mesoamerica. 4th Edition.
London/New York: Thames
and Hudson, 2006.
You can also use footnotes, end notes, or parenthetical citations
to provide the source of a
fact or opinion even if you don’t reproduce quotes in the
author’s words. If you use class
notes as a source, just give “Class notes” followed by the
lecture date.
University Policies
Academic Honor Code: “Members of the CSU Fresno academic
community adhere to
principles of academic integrity and mutual respect while
engaged in university work and
related activities.” That means you should understand or seek
clarification about
expectations for academic integrity in this course (including no
cheating, plagiarism and
inappropriate collaboration), and neither give nor receive
unauthorized aid on
examinations or papers.
Cheating and plagiarism: “Cheating is the actual or attempted
practice of fraudulent or
deceptive acts for the purpose of improving one’s grade or
obtaining course credit; such
acts also include assisting another student to do so. Typically,
such acts occur in relation
to examinations. However, it is the intent of this definition that
the term ‘cheating’ not be

4. limited to examination situations only, but that it include any
and all actions by a student
that are intended to gain an unearned academic advantage by
fraudulent or deceptive
means. Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating which consists
of the misuse of the
published and/or unpublished works of others by
misrepresenting the material (i.e., their
intellectual property) so used as one’s work.” Penalties for
cheating and plagiarism range
from a 0 or F on a term paper, through an F for the course, to
expulsion from the
university. For more information on the University’s policy
regarding cheating and
plagiarism, refer to the Schedule of Courses (Legal Notices on
Cheating and Plagiarism)
or the University Catalog (Policies and Regulations).
Questions:
1. The art of Paleolithic Europe was created by a prehistoric
culture that left no
written records, making the interpretation of this art difficult
(maybe even
impossible) for modern archaeologists and art historians. Using
lecture notes, the
text, and any legit outside sources, state and explain the
theories we covered in
class that have been suggested to explain the meaning of
EITHER the Woman of
Willendorf and other small Paleolithic sculptures OR the cave
paintings. For each
explanation you discuss, give evidence for and against it. You
can express your
own opinion on the meaning of these very ancient works of art,
but if you do so,

5. you need to back it up with facts, reasons, and logical
arguments.
2. Many ancient monuments of architecture were created as
tombs, but their
functions, unlike modern cemeteries or graves, went beyond
merely being places
to bury the dead. The oldest we have looked at in this class are
the megalithic
tombs of Western Europe, such as Newgrange. In your essay,
compare the
architecture, burial practices, and other uses of ancient
European megalithic
tombs (NOT pyramids!) with modern North American ways of
disposing of the
dead. How do they differ in terms of effort, community
involvement,
relationship/access between the living and the dead, uses of
burial sites, and in the
belief systems the megalithic tombs seem to reflect?
3. Stonehenge in England is a Neolithic monument probably
built by local people as
a temple, cemetery and astronomical observatory. In modern
times, however, a lot
of weird and erroneous ideas have been promoted in books,
mass media, and pop
culture about who built Stonehenge and how it was constructed.
In your essay,
describe some of these ideas. Then, critique these myths by
presenting the
evidence which shows how the site was actually constructed and
used.

6. 4. In this course we have seen several examples of architecture
built for defensive
purposes, designed to keep people out of a city or palace, but
besides walls and
towers, they also used what we would call art for magical
protection. In your
essay, compare/contrast the fortified architecture of Sargon II’s
fortified palace at
Khorsabad and the walled cities of Hattusas and Mycenae. For
each site, describe
the architectural features that were intended to protect and
defend. In particular,
how was art (sculpture) added to their architecture for
protective purposes?
5. Some ancient Mesopotamian art served as political
propaganda to support the
power of kings, in some cases by showing the king as
backed or supported by the
gods. Compare and contrast the Stela of Naram-Sin with
Hammurabi’s Law
Stela as propaganda. Describe the style features, size, and
content of these works
that make them a means of “selling” the power of individual
kings and/or
supporting the political system of kingship in general. In
particular, how do these
two works use religious symbols and themes to stress the
king’s power? How do
they differ in the way they do this?
6. Although Mesopotamian cultures did not emphasize the
afterlife as much in their
art and religion as did the Egyptians, both the Sumerians
and the Egyptians
created works of art that seem to be designed to help the

7. dead be successful in
reaching the afterlife. Compare and contrast the scenes on
the Sumerian harp
from Ur we looked at in class with EITHER the painting of
Nebamun hunting in
the marshes or the Book of the Dead from Egypt. What
difficulties do the
Egyptian works and maybe the Sumerian work indicate
might await the dead on
the journey to the afterlife? How do these works of art serve
to help the dead
person overcome these obstacles and reach a happy
hereafter?
7. Compare and contrast the portrayal of the ancient
Persians in the movie and
graphic novel “300” with the images the Persians
themselves left in the art we
looked at in class and that are in your text book. Be sure to
include
physical appearance, costume, behavior, and the culture’s
attitude and values in
your answer.
8. The ancient Egyptians believed that the universe arose as
order out of chaos but
was constantly menaced by forces of disorder which
threatened to destroy it.
They believed that universal harmony or Maat and their way
of life in the Nile
Valley was always in danger from chaos or Isfet. How is
this preoccupation with
defending order from disorder reflected in TWO or more of
the following

8. Egyptian works of art: the Narmer Palette, the pyramids of
Giza, the temple of
Karnak, and the Book of the Dead? How did these buildings
or works of art
serve to protect the world or the individual Egyptian from
disorder and
destruction? If you choose the pyramids or Karnak, how
did these buildings
represent and reenact the creation of the universe out of
watery chaos?
9. Someone tells you that the pyramids of Giza were built by
aliens or folks from
Atlantis (wherever that was) using advanced technology
because those stupid
Egyptians could never have done it by themselves, and that
the Great Pyramid
wasn’t built by Khufu.
Using all the information about the pyramids you have
learned from class lectures
and the textbook, how would you argue against this silly
claim?
10. In the 18th Dynasty in Egypt, the art of both Queen/King
Hatshepsut and
Akhenaten represented them with features not
corresponding to their biological
sex or social gender. Compare and contrast the “gender-
bending” portrayals of
these pharaohs. How do they combine male and female in
their images? Why in
each case did the rulers and their artists do this? What are
some of the theories on
why Akhenaten in particular made these changes? What are
the problems with

9. some of these theories?
11. Problems in the interpretation of ancient art can be created
or compounded by the
attempts of modern archaeologists to “restore” broken,
incomplete works to look
like what the archaeologists think they should have looked
like, and, in more
extreme cases, by dishonest archaeologists faking details or
even whole objects.
Using examples from Minoan and Mycenaean art, provide
examples of
misleading modern reconstructions of ancient art and
possible fakes that have
interfered with our understanding of these ancient cultures.
12. It is clear and agreed upon by all art historians and
archaeologists that the
Mycenaeans borrowed extensively from Minoan art, both in
style and in content.
Yet, it is also clear that the Mycenaeans changed what they
borrowed. Explain in
your essay how Mycenaean art is similar to Minoan art in
general form and style
and in some content. Then, explain how Mycenaean art
differs from Minoan art in
some of its themes and how it changes what it borrows from
Crete. Use specific
works of Minoan and Mycenaean art covered in class and in
the book for your
comparisons.
13. Trace the development of Greek statues from the Archaic
period (kouros and kore
figures) down to the Classical period (from Kritias Boy,
Spearbearer, Discus

10. Thrower, etc.).
How does the style, posture and way of showing the human
body change over
time? What do the Greeks borrow from Egyptian and Near
Eastern art in the
Orientalizing and Archaic sculptures? How do they change
the form and context
of what they borrow to make uniquely Greek art?
14. In the old days of art history, the art of Greece in the
Geometric period was seen
as crude and unsophisticated compared to later Archaic and
Classical Greek art.
Nowadays, we can appreciate the abstract art of Geometric
Greece in its own
right. In your essay, explain how Geometric art differs in
style from later Greek
art. What kinds of things are Geometric art good at showing
or communicating
that makes it as good as later Greek painting and sculpture?
15. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, European and American
collectors removed
many ancient works of art and even architecture from Egypt
and Greece (among
other places) to European or American museums. Since
Egypt and Greece have
since become independent nations, their governments have
demanded that many
of these works of art be returned to their home countries,
but in many cases, the
“Western” museums have refused. Using either the bust of
Nefertiti or the Elgin
Marbles as example, discuss how and when these objects

11. were removed from
their countries of origin, where they wound up, and briefly
summarize the
attempts made to return them and the response (or lack
thereof). Then, in the
second part of your essay, argue your opinion on whether
and why or not these
objects should be returned. Does the fact they come from a
particular country and
culture mean they should always be the property of that
country? Who owns the
past anyway? This is a hot emotional issue, but make sure
your arguments are
backed up with logical reasons.
Essay 2
2 pages for this - just choose one
Because of the increased difficulty of the following two essay
choices and the need
for you to do extra research (and probably to take up more
pages as well), if you
choose to do one of them AND if you get a grade of A on it, you
get ten extra points
to be added to your in-class slide exam score.
16. Early archaeologists excavating sites in Europe and the Near
East found female
figures from many periods of prehistory that they interpreted as
evidence of the
worship of a goddess. Later, in the 1970s, other archaeologists
and many popular
writers interpreted all these works of art as evidence of a cult of
a “Great Goddess”
distributed all over the Old World in Paleolithic, Neolithic, and
Bronze Age times.

12. Some feminist writers further argued that this alleged “goddess
religion” meant that
these ancient societies were ruled by women or had equality
between men and
women. What are the problems with all these claims? Using the
“Venus” figurines of
Ice Age Europe and the art of Catal Huyuk in Neolithic Turkey,
give the
interpretations of these objects that identify them as evidence of
goddess worship.
Then, in each case, identify any problems with these
interpretations and any evidence
that contradicts them. Then, identify the problems with using all
of these objects from
different times and places to claim the existence of a universal
“Great Goddess”
religion.
17. A number of archaeologists, including Spyridon Marinatos,
the excavator of
Akrotiri, have argued that the volcanic island of Thera and the
Minoan town
destroyed in its eruption in 1600 BCE was the Atlantis written
about by the Greek
philosopher Plato over a thousand years later. Others aren’t so
convinced. In your
essay, summarize the evidence pro and con for the identification
of Thera as Atlantis.
How does Thera fit Plato’s story—or does it? You can argue for
or against the theory,
but make sure you back up your arguments with facts and
argument. You will
definitely need extra sources for this answer, but remember: NO
PLAGIARISM!