The Western Experience, 10th Edition (Chambers)

Chapter 19: The Age of Enlightenment

Problems for Analysis

I. The Enlightenment

1
Compare the Enlightenment with the scientific revolution. What are their main points of similarity and difference?
2
"Voltaire, more than any other man, represents the philosophes and what they stood for." Do you agree? Why?
3
"The Encyclopedia, more than any other book, represents the meaning of the Enlightenment." Do you agree? Why?

II. Eighteenth-Century Elite Culture

4
Compare high and popular culture of the eighteenth century. How are distinctions between the two revealed in differing types of publications and the role of the bookseller?
5
It has been argued that the major cultural accomplishments of the eighteenth century were the development of the novel and of the symphony. Do you agree? Why?
6
What were the roles of women in eighteenth-century cultural life?

III. Popular Culture

7
What role did popular culture play in the lives of ordinary people?
8
How does the nature and extent of public schooling reflect broad aspects of eighteenth-century society and culture?
Chambers, The Western Experience, 10th Edition
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