Reference no: EM133279260
Questions - John Winthrop, "City on a Hill", Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Benjamin Franklin, "On Deism", and Charles C. Mann's "Artificial Wilderness"
1. Why do you think Winthrop begins his sermon with an extended discussion of the divine origin of social and economic inequalities? Who or what is responsible for inequalities among men? What is his attitude toward democracy?
2. What did Winthrop mean when he declared that "we shall be as a city upon a hill"? What does Winthrop suggest will happen if the settlers fail to live up to God's standards?
3. In the opinion of Edwards, how does God look upon humans?
4. Why do you think this sermon upset Edwards's listeners? Do you think it retains its power today?
5. How did Franklin come to learn about deism, and why according to him did he have second thoughts about it?
6. What is the significance of Franklin's rejection of deism as "not very useful"? What does this suggest about his general attitude toward religion?
7. In "The Artificial Wilderness," Mann suggests that the American landscape was wholly different before Europeans arrived and changed it significantly, though often unwittingly. What does Mann mean by the phrase "The Artificial Wilderness"? Which version of "wilderness" is the "artificial" one--the North American landscape of 1491, or the lands protected in the national parks of today? Why?
8. Much of "The Artificial Wilderness" focuses on the rise and subsequent collapse of passenger pigeon populations in the Americas. What in particular does Mann suggest to be the cause of this change and how specifically does it contribute to Mann's larger argument? That is, how does this particular example help Mann to make his point about wilderness before and after European arrival in the Americas?