1.

John Augustus Roebling is the architect responsible for which New York
City landmark?
a. The Statue of Liberty
b. The George Washington Bridge
c. The Brooklyn Bridge
d. The Empire State Building
e. Trinity Church
Explanation: John Augustus Roebling, a German immigrant, was the leading
designer of bridges throughout the mid-nineteenth century in America. His
masterpiece, however, was the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the first steel-wire
suspension bridge ever built. Unfortunately, Roebling died in 1870, just as it
was beginning construction, and his son Washington Roebling had to take over
construction.

2. Which American poet wrote this poem?

a. Emily Dickinson
b. Henry David Thoreau
c. Robert Frost
d. Ralph Waldo Emerson
e. Walt Whitman
Explanation:
The passage contains the entirety of Walt Whitman's "America," a short poem
published in his collection Leaves of Grass in 1855.
(Passage adapted from "America" by Walt Whitman in Leaves of Grass (1855).)
3. Which of the following is a famous work by Machiavelli?
a. The Social Contract
b. The Prince
c. The Leviathan
d. The History of Classical Italy
e. Two Treatises on Government
Explanation:
Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince is the famed treatise that he wrote as a kind of
"manual for princes." Throughout the work, he advocates a kind of opportunism
and "technical" strength for the princes who may read his work. Its overall aim is
to present a picture—often using historical examples—of how one can keep his
power as a prince. Although it is somewhat unfair to say that Machiavelli is wholly
immoral, the treatise is marked by a kind of amoralism—in that its advice is not
worried about virtue in the sense of "the good life" but instead hopes to show
princes how to have virtù in the sense of "power." Hence, people often refer to
self-centered power plays as being "machiavellian"—taking this word from the
very name of Machiavelli!
4. What design and architecture style is defined by a mix of traditional craft
motifs with industrial processes?
a. Beaux-Arts
b. Art Nouveau
c. Neoclassicist
d. Art Deco
e. Modernist
Explanation:
Art Deco was a thoroughly early-twentieth-century phenomenon in arts and
architecture, as it blended machine-age construction with traditional craftwork
aesthetics. The designs featured a great deal of metal with rich colors, bold
geometric shapes, and distinct ornamentation. One of the most famous Art
Deco buildings is the Chrysler Building in New York.
5. The American prose work that depicts a whaling crew chasing a
legendary beast is __________.
a. Moby Dick; or, The Whale
b. The Red Badge of Courage
c. Billy Budd, Sailor
d. The Scarlet Letter
e. The Last of the Mohicans
Explanation:
Herman Melville's Moby Dick; or, The Whale, first published in 1851, tells the
story of a whaling vessel, led by the intense Captain Ahab, as it tracks down the
great white whale who gives the book its name. Told through the perspective of
the sailor Ishmael, it is a highly allegorical tale featuring allusions to biblical
themes, classical mythology, and historical issues.
6. Which of the following artistic styles was most likely to feature Christian
iconography?
a. Greek art
b. Renaissance art
c. Gothic art
d. Roman art
e. Impressionist art
Explanation:
While Christian iconography and themes feature as the most common subjects in
Western art, certain periods were more heavily indebted to Christian tradition.
During the period of Gothic art, which was roughly synonymous with the twelfth,
thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries in Europe, Christian themes were almost the
only ones used. Even in royal portraits, such as the Wilton Diptych from England,
featured saints and angels next to the King.
7. Johann Sebastian Bach is representative of which of the following musical
styles?
a. Medieval
b. Baroque
c. Classical
d. Romantic
e. Renaissance
Explanation:
Johann Sebastian Bach is the composer most closely associated with the Baroque
period. Bach's music, with its complex counterpoint melodies and harmonies,
multilayered instrumentation, and formal structure, stands as representative of
the entire era. Bach's music was seen as a high point of the Baroque era, and my
of his works inspired developments away from Baroque music.
 8. What is the ancient Sanskrit epic that details a war between the related
Kauravas and Pandavas?
a. The Ramayana
b. The Mahabharata
c. The Rig Veda
d. Dharma Sutras
e. Pali Tipitaka
Explanation:
The Mahabharata is one of the epic Sanskrit texts of India, which details an epic
struggle between two related families, the Kauravas and Pandavas. Included in
the Mahabharata are smaller pieces which have been foundational in the
development of Hinduism, such as the Bhagavad Gita.
9. Which twentieth-century philosopher had a posthumously published
book largely negate and counteract the ideas of the only book published
during his lifetime?
a. Martin Heidegger
b. Albert Camus
c. Friedrich Nietzsche
d. C.S. Lewis
e. Ludwig Wittgenstein
Explanation:
Ludwig Wittgenstein's considerable fame as a philosopher comes on the strength
of just two books. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was a slim book published in
1921, while Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations were compiled after his
death from his notebooks and published in 1953. The Philosophical Investigations
were largely a refutation and rebuttal of Wittgenstein's earlier work.
10. Aristotle was the student of which famous fellow philosopher?
a. Plato
b. Lucretius
c. Aeschylus
d. Epicurus
e. Socrates
Explanation:
The three great Greek philosophers are uniquely tied together, through a series of
teacher-student relationships. Socrates, the great founder of Greek philosophy,
directly taught Plato, who recorded most of Socrates' thought. Plato then taught
Aristotle himself, which makes the entire chain of Greek philosophy tied to all
three.

11. The above painting is representative of what artistic

movement?
a. Pointilism
b. Abstract Expressionism
c. Cubism
d. Impressionism
e. Surrealism

Explanation:
This painting, Edgar Degas' "The Dance Lesson," was painted in 1879 and is a
classic representation of impressionism. With its visible and broad brush strokes
and its detached point of view, this painting features the hallmarks of
impressionism, a painting style developed in France in the late nineteenth
century. Degas preferred to call his artistic style "realism," because he believed
his method of painting captured the realistic emotion of a scene, if not an exact
representation of it.
12. The philosopher who wrote the ‘Works Thus Spake Zarathustra, The
Twilight of the Idols, and Beyond Good and Evil was______.
a. Arthur Schopenhauer
b. Soren Kierkegaard
c. Immanuel kant
d. Friederich Nietzsche
e. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel