Deck 12: Art

Question 1

What does McFague mean when she says that Kafka's parable does not have a message, but rather is the message? Do you agree?

Answer 1

good essay will:
Describe McFague's understanding and definition of a parable.
Explain how Kafka's story fits her understanding and definition.
Respond with your own view: would you agree with/refute/modify any of McFague's points?

Question 2

How does a parable intensify, or draw you deeper into, everyday reality, according to McFague?

Answer 2

No Answer

Question 3

What does McFague mean by the "incomprehensibility of the incomprehensible" and how does this fit in with her understanding of the role of parables?

Answer 3

No Answer

Question 4

According to McFague, Kafka's parable is an extended metaphor.

Question 5

A parable, to McFague is not the message; rather it has a message.

Question 6

Kafka's parable can be reduced to aesthetic terms, according to McFague.

Question 7

When we read a parable such as Kafka's, we are drawn deeper into reality.

Question 8

According to McFague, Kafka's parable can be interpreted autobiographically, psychologically, or theologically.

Question 9

McFague considers Kafka's parable to be

A) Translatable.
B) Interpretable.
C) Not translatable or interpretable.
D) Reducible to aesthetic concepts.

Question 10

According to McFague, Kafka creates a heightened sense of haste through his use of

A) Adverbs.
B) Run-on phrases.
C) Adjectives.
D) All of the above.

Question 11

Metaphorical language

A) Takes us into a surreal world.
B) Takes us deeper into reality.
C) Causes a shift in our perspective.
D) Both b and c

Question 12

In his parable, Kafka demonstrates

A) The incomprehensibility of the incomprehensible.
B) The comprehensibility of the comprehensibility.
C) What lies beyond everyday reality.
D) What the story "stands for."

Question 13

According to McFague, Kafka's parable

A) Interprets us.
B) Is interpreted by us.
C) Can be understood by means of aesthetic concepts.
D) Has an objective meaning.

Question 14

According to McFague, Kafka's parable can be interpreted

A) Autobiographically
B) Psychologically.
C) Theologically.
D) None of the above.

Question 15

Think of a story or experience that caused a sudden shift in your perspective. Describe what you thought and how you felt before and after this experience.

Question 16

Describe a parable that was told to you in your youth. Did this story guide your behavior in any way? Did it suggest to you a meaning within everyday life or beyond this life?

Question 17

Imagine you are attending an installation of art that encompasses sound, motion, light, and color. You are unsure what meaning the artists wanted to convey to the audience. How do you react, and why?
Fearing Fictions
Kendall Walton

Question 18

What is the value, according to Walton, of fiction (e.g., movies, plays, novels, games)? Do you agree? Explain.

Question 19

How does Walton explain Charles's response to the slime? Do you find it persuasive? Explain.

Question 20

Consider whether Walton's view could explain your own experience of watching a scary movie. Explain how well (or poorly) it does so.

Question 21

Walton argues that it is possible to have genuine psychological attitudes toward purely fictional entities.

Question 22

Walton claims that we extend ourselves into fictional worlds.

Question 23

According to Walton, Charles does not have any of the physical symptoms of fear.

Question 24

According to Walton, novels are good only once.

Question 25

Walton claims that Charles is like a child playing make-believe.

Question 26

Walton claims that Charles is like an actor impersonating himself.

Question 27

Charles is watching a movie about

A) Aliens.
B) Ghosts.
C) Slime.
D) Socrates.

Question 28

Walton draws an analogy between

A) Children and slime.
B) Reading a novel and playing make-believe.
C) Playing make-believe and flying on a plane.
D) Acting in a play and fighting slime.

Question 29

Walton thinks that the traditional view

A) Is better.
B) Discounts the value of fiction.
C) Requires us to have false beliefs.
D) Is entirely reasonable.

Question 30

According to Walton, Charles differs from someone who is actually afraid because

A) Charles has reasons to be afraid.
B) Charles does not perform any deliberate actions.
C) Charles does not have any of the physical symptoms of fear.
D) All of the above.

Question 31

According to Walton, dreams, fantasy, and making-believe are valuable because

A) They help us come to terms with our feelings.
B) Of the enjoyment they give us.
C) They help us improve our relationships with others.
D) All of the above.

Question 32

Does Walton's view of why repeated reading of a fictional story has value make sense to you? Explain.

Question 33

Explain the relationship between Walton's view of Charles and a child playing make-believe. Then explain the relationship between Charles and a play actor.

Question 34

Recount a time when you felt afraid of something fictional. Then explain how well (or poorly) Walton's view captures your experience.
The Republic
Plato

Question 35

Explain why Socrates claims that art is at a third remove from reality. Do you think he treats art fairly? Explain.

Question 36

Do you think that some art excites passions that should be restrained? Do you think that this makes it harmful? Explain, perhaps also giving examples.

Question 37

Do you think that art misleads us about the truth? Do you think artists are not knowledgeable about the truth? Why or why not?

Question 38

Socrates claims that the artist is like a god.

Question 39

Socrates claims that the artist knows nothing about what he or she represents.

Question 40

Socrates argues that if Homer had knowledge of human conduct, he would have attracted disciples.

Question 41

Socrates argues that tragic poetry excites passions in us that are helpful in cultivating virtue.

Question 42

According to Socrates, the carpenter creates a perfectly real bed.

Question 43

According to Socrates, tragic poetry is harmful and should be banned.

Question 44

According to Socrates, the Form of Bed is

A) Printed on a sheet of paper.
B) Made by a craftsman.
C) Authored by god.
D) The shape of a bed.

Question 45

Socrates argues that we can distinguish the bed made by a carpenter from

A) A bed painted by an artist.
B) The Form of Bed divinely produced by god.
C) Both a and b
D) Neither a nor b

Question 46

Socrates argues that art is

A) Just for money.
B) At the third remove from reality.
C) One step from reality.
D) Perfectly just.

Question 47

Socrates claims that if Homer really had knowledge of human conduct, then

A) He would have had many students.
B) He would have preferred performing good actions to representing them in verse.
C) He would have been able to effect changes in governments.
D) All of the above.

Question 48

According to Socrates, tragic poetry arouses

A) Dead spirits.
B) Passionate verse.
C) Rational calculation.
D) Passions that should be restrained.

Question 49

Summarize Socrates's argument that tragic poetry is harmful. Do you agree? Explain.

Question 50

Why does Socrates claim that Homer does not know the truth about human conduct?

Question 51

Give an example of a work of art that excites passions that should be restrained. Then explain whether you think it should be banned or not and why.

Question 52

What are the six elements of a tragedy, according to Aristotle? Which does he think is most important, and why? Do you agree?

Question 53

Do you agree with Aristotle that poetry is more philosophic than history? Explain.

Question 54

What is the difference between a simple and a complex plot? Which one does Aristotle favor, and why? Can you give an example of a contemporary book or movie that has a complex plot? Describe the plot and say why it is complex.

Question 55

The unique function of tragedy, according to Aristotle, is to arouse pity and fear.

Question 56

According to Aristotle, the way that the actors are portrayed on stage is the most important part of a tragedy.

Question 57

Aristotle claims that poetry is of graver import than history.

Question 58

Aristotle claims that simple plots are best.

Question 59

According to Aristotle, the finest form of tragic plot involves a good man passing from happiness to misery.

Question 60

According to Aristotle, the best tragedies involve people of high reputation.

Question 61

Which of the following is not an element of a tragedy, according to Aristotle?

A) Plot.
B) Spectacle.
C) Historical accuracy.
D) Character.

Question 62

According to Aristotle, the formative elements of tragedy include

A) Melody.
B) Diction.
C) Thought.
D) All of the above.

Question 63

The most important element of a tragedy, in Aristotle's view, is

A) Plot.
B) Spectacle.
C) Historical accuracy.
D) Character.

Question 64

A complex plot involves

A) Many characters.
B) A rich person.
C) Discovery leading to knowledge.
D) Many tears.

Question 65

The unique function of tragedy, according to Aristotle, is

A) To give us pleasure.
B) To arouse fear and pity.
C) To make us better people.
D) All of the above.

Question 66

According to Aristotle, the finest form of plot involves

A) A good man passing from happiness to misery.
B) A bad man passing from misery to happiness.
C) An extremely bad man falling from happiness to misery.
D) None of the above.

Question 67

What, according to Aristotle, is tragedy's unique function? Do you agree? Is it valuable? Explain.

Question 68

Consider the three kinds of plot that Aristotle says the tragic poet should avoid. Explain why he thinks each should be avoided. Do you agree? Explain.

Question 69

Can you think of a contemporary book or movie that challenges Aristotle's view? Explain the work and the challenge it poses.