Understanding the Arts Exam Bank
Course Introduction
Understanding the Arts offers students an exploration into the diverse world of artistic expression, spanning visual arts, music, theatre, dance, and literature. This course examines the cultural, historical, and social contexts that shape artistic movements and styles, while introducing students to fundamental concepts, techniques, and vocabulary used in art criticism and appreciation. Through analysis of representative works from various cultures and time periods, students develop critical thinking skills, aesthetic awareness, and a deeper appreciation for the role of the arts in human experience and society.
Recommended Textbook
Creative Impulse An Introduction to the Arts 8th Edition by Dennis J. Sporre
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18 Chapters
1136 Verified Questions
1136 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction Understanding the Arts
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/6215
Sample Questions
Q1) __________ is a system of writing music so the composer can communicate clearly to the performer the pitches,rhythms,and other elements of the piece.
A) Symbol
B) Musical syllabics
C) Musical notation
D) Liturgy
E) Cuneiform
Answer: C
Q2) __________ refers to the number of hues and values used by an artist in a work.
A) Pastel
B) Perspective
C) Spectrum
D) Palette
E) Oil
Answer: D
Q3) Musical __________ are melodies that convey "musical ideas" to the listener.
Answer: themes
Q4) The hero or main character of a dramatic or literary work is called a(n)__________.
Answer: protagonist
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Chapter 2: The Ancient World
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Around __________ years ago,humankind began to develop notions of selfhood and individuality.
A) 10,000
B) 5000
C) 2000
D) 20,000
E) 50,000
Answer: E
Q2) Animals were important symbols in Sumeria.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Sumerian sculpture came to depict kings in __________ acts,rather than as warlords.
Answer: devotional
Q4) Who is the main character of the Gilgamesh epic?
Answer: a Sumerian hero,likely based on a ruler of Uruk
Q5) Sumerian artists depicted actual individuals,usually __________. Answer: kings
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Chapter 3: The Aegean and Archaic Greece
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Scholars call Epic poems that draw their material from legends and oral traditions
Answer: primary
Q2) The Greek doctrine of __________ asserted that music could affect character. A) Dorian
B) mode
C) ethos
D) philos
E) Pythagoras
Answer: C
Q3) Achilles and Odysseus were both figures drawn from Mycenaean culture.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) __________ was replaced by iron during the Greek Middle Ages.
Answer: Bronze
Q5) The Greeks believed the gods invented musical instruments,and Athena played the __________.
Answer: flute
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Chapter 4: Greek Classicism and Hellenism
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In general,what did the philosophy and aesthetics of the Greeks focus on?
Q2) An artwork's color scheme is referred to as its __________.
A) harmony
B) tone
C) design
D) composition
E) palette
Q3) __________ refers to the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices.
A) Emotionalism
B) Internationalism
C) Syncretism
D) Hubris
E) Phenomenalism
Q4) For __________,proper art depends upon the "moral ends of the polis."
A) Aristotle
B) Diogenes
C) Plato
D) Myron
E) Amyntas
Q5) What is unique about the frieze on the Temple of Athena Nice?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: The Roman Period
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Octavian became,effectively,the first "emperor" of Rome.
A)True
B)False
Q2) __________ On the Nature of Things rejects religion and speaks compassionately about an ignorant and unhappy humanity.
Q3) The __________ is the principle enclosed room of a Roman temple.
A) nave
B) cella
C) apse
D) agora
E) sarcophagus
Q4) Octavian was given the title of __________,meaning the Fortunate or Blessed.
A) Imperium
B) Pontifex
C) Augustus
D) Caesar
E) Maximus
Q5) __________ was particularly influential in the development of the essay,biography,and historical writing.
Page 7
Q6) Which class of Romans desired trompe l'oeil wall paintings?
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Chapter 6: Judaism and Early Christianity
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) For the most part,Christian churches took the form of the Roman __________.
Q2) Select an example of an Early Christian basilica.How does it differ from Roman basilicas? Why did the Christians make these changes? Also,why do you think the basilica,rather than another architectural form,became the basis for Christian churches?
Q3) In __________ music,singing alternates between two choruses.
Q4) Many Christians __________ service in the Roman army.
A) volunteered
B) refused
C) wished
D) outlawed
E) honored
Q5) __________ split the Roman empire,creating two capital cities.
A) Diocletian
B) Caesar
C) Augustus
D) Constantine
E) Midian
Q6) Christian church leaders rejected the use of __________ choruses,in part so the congregation would sing more.
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Chapter 7: Byzantium and Islam
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which ivory carving includes depictions of emissaries from the West and from India?
Q2) The __________ demanded the removal of icons from Orthodox churches,on grounds that they were in fact idols.
A) clergy
B) Muslims
C) Visigoths
D) iconoclasts
E) iconophiles
Q3) The Qur'an is composed of 114 __________,or chapters.
Q4) Stylistically,Byzantine icons derive from __________ funeral portraits of the second century C.E.
A) Greek
B) Roman
C) Egyptian
D) Early Christian
E) pagan
Q5) Iconoclasm is found in both Christianity and Islam.Discuss its historical role in each religion,and suggest some reasons why people might fear or repress images.
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Chapter 8: The Early Middle Ages
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Parchment pages bound together between hard covers are called a __________.
A) papyrus
B) tablet
C) codex
D) manuscript
E) scroll
Q2) How did the Gero Crucifix depict Christ?
Q3) __________ was one of the few great scholars of the early years of this period.
Q4) The most widely adopted of all monastic rules is the __________.
Q5) __________ is the recessed ornamental space between an arch and a lintel.
A) Tympanum
B) Cornice
C) Entablature
D) Frieze
E) Abbey
Q6) The most common architectural structure during the Middle Ages was the __________.
Q7) St Bernard's preaching contributed to the spread of __________,which led to the softer,more ethereal Christianity of the High Gothic period.
Q8) Painting became a largely __________ art after the fall of Rome.
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Chapter 9: The High Middle Ages
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The texts of Aristotle entered Western Europe through __________ sources in Spain.
A) Jewish
B) Catholic
C) Muslim
D) Greek
E) Egyptian
Q2) __________ constituted a more feminine point of view of ethics and personal conduct than the rigid and oppressive feudalism.
A) Chivalry
B) Capitalism
C) Romanticism
D) Secularism
E) Socialism
Q3) Giotto was the first painter to create false texture since early Christian times.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Chaucer's stories in his work __________ are notable for their irony and robust comedy.
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Chapter 10: The Early Renaissance
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Sample Questions
Q1) Part of the development of Renaissance architecture involved the measurement of __________ ruins and the conversion of the measurements into ideal proportions.
Q2) Alberti's Palazzo Recellai is clearly influenced by the Roman __________.
A) cathedral
B) basilica
C) Colosseum
D) bathhouse
E) gymnasium
Q3) The subject of Ghiberti's relief sculpture for the Florence Cathedral's Baptistery is the
A) birth of Venus
B) crucifixion
C) deposition
D) lamentation
E) sacrifice of Isaac
Q4) Christian humanism was a view common among the masses of Europe.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The first of the Medici family to assume power was __________ de' Medici.
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Chapter 11: The High Renaissance and Mannerism
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63 Verified Questions
63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Ottoman Empire defeated the Turks.
A)True
B)False
Q2) .Sophonisba Anguissola was a(n)__________ for the Queen of Spain.
A) attendant
B) court painter
C) court musician
D) playwright
E) poet
Q3) The Spanish have referred to the __________ century as the siglo de oro.
A) fourteenth
B) fifteenth
C) sixteenth
D) seventeenth
E) none of the above
Q4) Leonardo invented practical devices,including a device to cut nuts and __________.
Q5) Which Renaissance artist was a master of visual arts,architecture,and poetry?
Q6) Bramante's __________ ("little temple")exemplifies High Renaissance style in architecture.
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Chapter 12: Renaissance and Reformation in Northern Europe
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63 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Flemish painters were interested in __________.
A) naturalism
B) Gothic style
C) light-heartedness
D) romance
E) Christian reform
Q2) Pick an example of literature from this chapter.Discuss the influence of Christian humanism on its themes.Contrast these themes with the ideas of Protestant reformers such as John Calvin.
Q3) The __________ helped spread the ideas of the Reformation.
A) Catholic mass
B) newspaper
C) signal tower
D) monarchy
E) printing press
Q4) Grünewald's Isenheim altarpiece was installed in a hospital's church.
A)True
B)False
Page 14
Q5) Copernicus argued for a(n)__________ theory of the universe.
Q6) The medium of __________ paint helped Flemish painters achieve a new naturalism.
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Page 15
Chapter 13: The Baroque Age
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Counter-Reformation involved a reinstatement of the medieval __________.
A) craft guilds
B) monasteries
C) Inquisition
D) nunneries.
E) fiefdom
Q2) Rembrandt became the first __________ artist.
A) wealthy
B) capitalist
C) socialist
D) secular
E) anti-classical
Q3) The Spanish baroque painter __________ is associated with the mystical and inward-looking nature of the Counter-Reformation.
A) Velázquez
B) Rodriguez
C) Sanchez
D) El Greco
E) Romero
Q4) Between 1600 and __________ most European artists used the baroque style.
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Chapter 14: The Enlightenment
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Sample Questions
Q1) The writings of Mary Wollstonecraft mark the beginning of modern __________.
A) aestheticism
B) classicism
C) feminism
D) skepticism
E) rationalism
Q2) Who wrote the well-known poem called An Essay on Criticism?
Q3) What was the name for the unrestricted economy favored by the "physiocrats"?
Q4) .__________ was a slave,possibly of Fulani origin,who wrote poems in a neoclassical style.
A) Mary Wollstonecraft
B) Oliver Goldsmith
C) Samuel Johnson
D) George Whitefield
E) Phillis Wheatley
Q5) Marie Anne Cupis de Camargo was the first ballerina to incorporate the technical skills typically associated with men.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Alexander Pope used __________ to criticize society.
Page 17
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Chapter 15: The Romantic Age
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63 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most famous example of Romantic architecture is the __________.
A) Crystal Palace
B) Eiffel Tower
C) Royal Pavillion
D) White House
E) Houses of Parliament
Q2) In a __________ play,each character tends to be either all good or all evil.
A) tragic
B) classical
C) comedic
D) melodramatic
E) Romantic
Q3) A basic tenet of Romanticism is __________.
A) relativism
B) traditionalism
C) classicism
D) individualism
E) rationalism
Q4) Hegel believed that __________ art "reaches the highest level that sensuous,imaginative material can correctly express."
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Chapter 16: Realism, Impressionism, and Beyond
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63 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Berthe Morisot was an original member of the __________.
Q2) The Pre-Raphaelites were interested in the __________ function of art.
A) didactic
B) expressive
C) political
D) religious
E) memorializing
Q3) The __________ movement celebrated speed and technology,and sought to destroy the past.
A) expressionism
B) impressionism
C) post-impressionism
D) futurism
E) cubism
Q4) What do you make of the notion of an "avant-garde"? Which works seem like they could be considered avant-garde,and how do you define the term? Does the work have to be self-consciously political? Do you think focusing on avant-garde art might shift attention from equally good or important types of art?
Q5) The work of Arthur Schoenberg grew out of German __________.
Q6) Irregular rhythm and __________ define Claude Debussy's work.
Page 19
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Chapter 17: Modernism
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Sample Questions
Q1) What was the purpose of Surrealist "automatic writing"?
Q2) __________ combined elements from West African,American,and European music.
Q3) The architect best known for his Falling Water (Kaufmann House)is __________.
A) Walter Gropius
B) Cass Gilbert
C) Adolph Meyer
D) Frank Lloyd Wright
E) Louis Sullivan
Q4) A strong faith in "natural" (and "sexual")things as a means of redemption for modern society characterizes the work of __________.
A) D.H. Lawrence
B) Franz Kafka
C) T.S. Eliot
D) William Faulkner
E) John Steinbeck
Q5) For existentialists,freedom lies in human consciousness and the human struggle to give meaning to otherwise meaningless events.
A)True
B)False
Page 20
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Chapter 18: From Modernism to Postmodernism and Beyond
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Sample Questions
Q1) The composer __________ employed serial technique in his Philomel.
Q2) The __________ were an important collective of experimentalists involved with the development of postmodern dance in the 1960s.
Q3) Postwar decolonization began in the late __________.
Q4) Postmodernism embraces metanarratives.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The American composer Ned Rorem is associated with __________.
A) traditionalism
B) sound liberation
C) pluralism
D) serialism
E) minimalism.
Q6) Philip Glass is usually considered a __________ composer.
Q7) Nam June Paik's Danger Music for Dick Higgins was never intended to be played.
A)True
B)False
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Q8) __________ theatre proliferated during the 1970s,responding to women's subordinate position within society.
Q9) Arab nationalism intensified after the loss of the 1967 __________ War.
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