CVSP 204 Final, Spring 2003

en bene ON EVERSIT LIGGARY OF HEIRUT — Civilization Sequence 204 Final Examination Time: 2 Hours June 2003 _ Prof. Nassar PART ONE: (30%) Choose TWO of the following quotations. In each case: (1) Analyze the quotation. (2) Link one of its ideas to another idea you have come across this semester. 1. They had no children. Mr. Robinson knew Arabic well and was interested in Islamic thought and architecture, and it was with them that I visited Cairo’s mosques, its museums and antiquities. The district of Cairo they loved best was al-Azhar. (Salih, Season of Migration to the North). 2. Where, then, were the roots that struck down into times past?.....I moved my feet and arms, violently and with difficulty, until the upper part of my body was above water. Like a comic actor shouting on a stage, I screamed with all my remaining strength, “Help! Help!” (Salih, Season of Migration to the North). 3. Kirsha excused this renunciation (of politics) by pointing to the corruption in political life. He would say, “If money is the aim and object of those who squabble for power, then there is clearly no harm in money being the objective of the poor voters.” Now he was content to be corrupt, absentminded, and beset by his own passions. All the spirit of the old revolutionary was gone. (Mahfouz, Midag Alley). PART TWO: ESSAY (70%) The devaluation of the human race is a major theme in many of the writers you read in C.S. 204, such as Darwin, Freud, Hawking, Malraux, Beckett, de Beauvoir, Salih. Choose a few of those writers and explore their treatment of this theme. At the same time, give your own opinion whenever possible, arguing for or against the ideas of your chosen authors. Be careful to avoid superficiality. You will be graded on your knowledge of the material and the strength of your argument. GOODLUCKE