Answering questions on west European studies (Coursework Sample)

Student Professor Course Date Question#1 Personally, the thought of civilization causes me to think of it positively since it is good. Ideally, this is based on the belief that cultures underwent a series of progressions over several decades. Due to the rapid advancement of civilization, people have experienced increased quality of living as well as a rise in people’s lifespans. As a result, civilization bolstered the process of societal stratification, urbanization, and centralization. Question#2 In particular, the religion of the people of Mesopotamia was characterized by a polytheistic system of belief where it encompassed believing in more than one god. Contrarily, this differs from religious doctrines of our world that focus on only one Supreme Being. As such, the Mesopotamians believed in demons created specifically by gods, which is different from our current religion. Question#3 Primarily, the Babylonian captivity led to the presentation of punishment for idolaters. Correspondingly, the era resulted in the emergence of the core role of Torah as the section of the Jewish religion. Consequently, this caused the transformation of one of the ethnoreligious group. Most importantly, the Babylonian experience prompted the construction of the second temple in Jerusalem that had a significantly far-reaching influence on the growth of Judaism. Question#4 Evidently, Zoroastrianism constitutes the oldest, pre-Islamic Persian religion. It was founded by the prophet and reformist of Iranian origin known as Zoroaster. Mostly, it encompassed the properties of both monotheism and dualism. Naturally, the teachings of Zoroaster revealed that a man must comply to be enlisted in the cosmic shift since he is entitled with a magnitude of free choice. The Persian Religion of Zoroastrianism is similar to other religions since it is a highly ethical doctrine that entwines the selection of good deeds. Question#5 I think that Greeks believed humans had freedom of choice. As such, this is because each had freedom to choose different responses. For instance, King Laius was determined to exercise his free will by choosing to believe that the original prophecy would finally come true. It is evidently depicted that Oedepus arrogantly refused to pay attention to the love suggestions from Jocasta. Today, people have freedom to choose whatever they want to do. In such a way, this is because every thesis provides an antithesis, and individuals try to exercise the opposite of the predetermined actions. Question#6 Mostly, Greek Classical art was based on beauty. The ideals were expressed by using human beings as objects of greater beauty through sculptures. As such, the civilizations of emotions were based on the idealization of reason, moderation, balancing, and the harmonization of all things. The philosophers questioned the formulation of critical thought concerning the nature of the world as a place for divinity forces. Instead, they argued by giving the answer that the understanding of the universe was crucially beyond the imagination of human mind. Question#7 The Hellenistic women enjoyed the right to political and equal appreciation. Contrarily, the freedom of women in the Classical period differed since they lacked the power to gain political and equal rights such as that of inheriting property even after being married. The Hellenistic women’s freedom differed from that of women in Egypt and Mesopotamia since it based on the right to vote and assume the same political power as their male counterparts. Question#8 When Socrates was found guilty and jailed, he didn’t want to flee since he had a firm holding that it was illegal to do so. As a matter of fact, this philosopher was dedicated to abiding by Athenian law for he knew that the charges against him involved capital offenses. Socrates words implied the importance of noble choice of death as a reflection in the face of another alternative. That is why he chose death instead of exile. Personally, I believe the above meaning is correct since it is better to follow the lawful procedures than to be a hypocrite by escaping responsibilities or accusations. Question#9 The main problems of Rome faced during the last century of the republic were that there was a crescent concentration of power among fewer corrupt officials (Baxter and Taylor 109). This led to the eruption of civil wars and the division of the Republic into the East and West territories. Consequently, the primary solution to the problems was to form a unified empire run by a constitution. Personally, I see similarities between the fall of the Roman Empire and the United States. This is based on my opinion that there is a lot of concentration of power in the hands of few people within the United States who are advocates of corruption as witnessed in Rome. Likewise, there are cases of crimes culminating in the streets of U.S. Question#10 Christianity was characterized by a strong affirmation of the spiritual worthiness of slaves as well as women. Also, it offered the reliable appeal of Judaism without engaging on family matters. The value of persecution strengthened it since they won several conversions during martyrs. Lastly, Christian's teachings were based on the focus of love for others. Christianity was able to transform the Roman Empire by doing away with the prolonged centuries of traditional methods of belief. As a result, it became the official religion. Question#11 The Germanic people’s invasion disrupted the mode of political and economic system that was superbly run by the Romans (Baxter and Taylor 108). Likewise, the disruption of social patterns occurred as people moved to different regions and built their states. This is because they lacked sophisticated methods. Notably, the main features of Germanic law and society were that its system was principally based wholly on compensation. Also, any injury demanded the same magnitude of benefit that relies on the sex of the perpetrator. As such, this differed from the Romanic law since the composition of crimes in Rome relied on the Bible where prosecution is based on goodwill. Question#12 Naturally, the core message of Islam was that no deity is worthy but the exception of God and his messenger, Muhammad (Mohd-Asraf 115). It expanded successfully by making a unique relationship between other ...