Art of Being Human, The

"The Art of Being Human, Tenth Edition, " introduces students to the ways in which the humanities can broaden their perspectives, enhance their ability to think critically, and enrich their lives. This well-respected book has been lauded for its scope, accessibility, and writing style. Featuring a unique topical organization, Part I introduces the humanities as a technique for living, by connecting the arts to students' daily lives, utilizing the humanities to foster critical thinking skills, and examining their mythic origins. Part II explores the individual genres of literature, art, music, theater, musical theater, and cinema. Part III looks at provocative themes in the humanities: religion, morality, happiness, love, life and death, nature, and freedom.

List of contents

I. EXPLORING THE HUMANITIES
 
1. The Humanities: A Shining Beacon
Overview of this Book
Gifts of the Humanities
            Beauty
            Beautiful Movement
            Language
            Ideas
            Deeper Sense of the Past
Becoming an “Infinite” Person
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
2. The Humanities and Critical Thinking
Overview
Apollonian and Dionysian Responses to the Humanities
            The Popcorn Syndrome
            Empathy and Alienation
            The Importance of Knowing when a Purely Emotional Response is Appropriate
            The Importance of Responding Critically
Exercising the Mind
            Solving Problems
            Challenging Assumptions
            Recognizing Contexts
A Guide to Critical Viewing: Professional and Personal
            Role of the Professional Critic
            The Personal Critical Response
Literalists and Figuratists
            Literalist Speech
            Figuratist Speech
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
3. Myth and the Origin of the Humanities
Archetypes in Mythology
            The Hero as World Myth
            The Power of Words
            The Power of Numbers
            The Circle
            The Journey
            The Garden
            Gods as Human Beings
Myth as Explanation
            Creation
            The Natural World
            Human Suffering
            Cursed by Fate
Myths of Childhood
            How We Get Our values
            The Importance of Being Attractive and Rich
            The Importance of Names
            The Dark Side
Popular Mythology
            Common Sayings
How Myth Influences the Humanities
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
II. DISCIPLINES OF THE HUMANITIES
 
4. Literature
Literature as History
            The Basic Literary Impulse: Identity
            The First Epic: Gilgamesh
            An Early Masterpiece: Homer's Iliad
Poetry
            Lyrical Poetry
            The Sonnet
            Metaphors and Conceits
            A Modern Love Sonnet
            Haiku
            Simple Forms, Profound Meaning: William Blake
            Religious Poetry
            Modernism Moves Forward: Emily Dickinson
            Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance
            Poetry in Our Time
The Novel
            Early Western Novels
            The Novel in America
            The Coming-of-Age Novel
The Short Story
            Magazine Fiction
            Epiphany
            The Short Story Today: John Updike
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
Take a Closer Look: Collier's “The Chaser”
 
5. Art
The Need to Imitate
            Let Me See!
            Styles and Media
Creating Likeness in Different Styles
            Classical Art
            Medieval Art
            Renaissance Art
A Rebellion against Perfect Likeness
            Goya
            Impressionism
            Post-Impressionism: Van Gogh
Art as Alternation
            The Sixty-Ninth Regiment Armory Show, 1913
            Cubism: Picasso and Braque
            Unreal Realism
            Superrealism
            Camera and Computer Art
            Pop Art
            Performance, Prank, and Installation Art
Architecture
            Religious Architecture
            Secular Architecture
            Frank Lloyd Wright
            Frank O. Gehry
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
Take a Closer Look: Kahlo's “Self-Portrait on the Border Between Mexico and the United States”
 
 
6. Music
The Basic Elements of Music
            Tone
            The Scale
            Rhythm
            Melody
            Harmony and the Orchestra
            Silence
The Varieties of Musical Experience
            A Bach Fugue
            A Beethoven Symphony
            Art Songs
            Folk Songs
            The Spiritual
            Gospel Songs
            Ragtime, Jazz, Blues
            Popular Songs
            Hip-Hop
            Contemporary Non-Western Music
            The Musical Avant-Garde
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 Take a Closer Look: DeBussy's “Clair de Lune”
 
7. Theater
Major Tragic and Serious Plays in Theater History
            Greek Classical Theater and Elizabethan Theater: A Comparison
             The Recognition Scene in Sophocles and Shakespeare
            Aristotle on the Nature of Tragedy
            Shakespeare and Dramatic Verse
            Neoclassic Tragedy
            Realism and Naturalism           
            Modern Genres and Conventions
            Modern Tragedy
            Melodrama and Tragedy
Comedy in Theatre History
            Satire
            Shakespeare's Comedy of Character
            Farce
            Contemporary Anti-Middle-Class Comedy
            Contemporary Serious Comedy
            Parody
Theater of Ideas
            Ibsen
            Shaw
Naturalism
            Chekov
            The Family Theme
A Theatrical Century of Dynamic Change
            The Modern Theater of Ideas
            Theatre of Cruelty
            Racial Themes
            Gay Rights
Backstage
            The Director
            Tablework
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 Take a Closer Look: Miller's “Death of a Salesman”
 
 
8. The Musical Stage: Opera, Music Drama, Dance
Early History of Musical Theater
            Monteverdi
            Classical and Baroque Opera
            Mozart
           Verdi and Romantic Opera
            Wagner
Modern Opera and Operetta
            Treemonisha
            Showboat: An Operetta
            Porgy and Bess
            Other Modern Operas of Note
The Broadway Musical
            Of Thee I Sing
            The Musical Play
            Pal Joey
            Oklahoma!
            West SideStory
            Spring Awakening
            Next to Normal
Dance
            Early History
            Ballet
                        French Ballet: Giselle
                        Russian Ballet: Tchaikovsky and Diaghilev
            Modern Dance
                        Martha Graham
                        Other Schools of Modern Dance
            Folkloric Dance
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
  Take a Closer Look: La Boehme and Rent
 
9. Cinema
Conventions of Film
            Sound
            The Camera
            Color
            Time
            Challenging Conventions          
Some Early Milestones
            Early Filmmakers: D.W. Griffith
           Early Filmmakers: Sergei Eisenstein
Major Film Genres
            Slapstick Comedy: Sennet and Chaplin
            Farce: The Marx Brothers
            Enduring Appeal of the Animated Film
            Film Noir
            Romantic Comedy
            The Screen Musical
            The Western
            Social Issues
            Documentaries
            Fictionalized Biography
            Loosely Based on the Original
Two American Film Classics
            Citizen Kane
            Casablanca
The Film Auteur
            Ingmar Bergman
            Federico Fellini
            Alfred Hitchcock
            Akira Kurosawa
            Stanley Kubrick
            Francis Ford Coppola
A Word of Critical Viewing
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
  Take a Closer Look: Saving Private Ryan
 
III. THEMES IN THE HUMANITIES
 
10. Religion
Overview
The Belief in Many Gods
            Egypt
            Hinduism
            Polytheism in Greece and Rome
            Native American Religions
The Belief in an Impersonal Divinity
            How Hinduism led to Buddhism
            Buddhism
            Taoism
            Socrates and Plato
            Aristotle's Unmoved Mover
The Belief in One God
            Judaism
            Christianity
            Islam
            The Protestant Reformation
Doubt
            Agnosticism
            Atheism
Religion and the Arts
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
11. Morality
Morality and the Arts
Morality and Philosophy
            Moral Systems
The Morality of Self-Interest
            Glaucon versus Socrates
            The Philosopher King
            Government and Self-Interest
            Rebellions against Self-Interest
            Satirical Praise for Self-Interest
            “Enlightened” Self-Interest: Machiavelli
            “Enlightened” Self-Interest: Thomas Hobbes
            Econonomics and Self-Interest: Adam Smith
            Econonomics and Self-Interest: Ayn Rand
            Transcending Self-Interest: Altruism
                        A Philosophical Defense of Altruism
Utilitarianism: Bentham and Mill
            Bentham's Moral Mathematics
            Utilitarianism Modified: John Stuart Mill
The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant
Religion and Morality
            The Influence of Dante and Milton on Western Morality
The Morality of Work
            Studs Terkel on Work
Moral Relativism
            The Global View
            Feminist Morality
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
12. Happiness
Hedonism: Happiness as Pleasure
            Literary Hedonism: Poetry of Seduction
            Hedonist Assumptions
            Hedonism Reconsidered
Epicureanism: Happiness is Avoiding Pain
            Epicurean Assumptions
            Epicureanism Reconsidered
Stoicism: Happiness as a Strategy for Survival
            Stoic Assumptions
            Stoicism Reconsidered
Aristotle on Happiness
            Reason and Virtue
            Happiness A Government's Responsibility
            Aristotle Reconsidered
The Humanities and Unhappiness
            Models of the Happy Life
            Anne Frank
            Martin Luther King, Jr.
            Gandhi
            Buddhist Paths to Happiness
            The Dalai Lama
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
13. Love
Body and Soul
Eros
            Lust in Classical Myth
            Lust on the Shakespearean Stage
            Eros in Eastern Culture
            Adultery
Agape
            The Platonic Ideal
            Platonic Love Evaluated
Family Love
            Family Conflicts
            The Family in Religion
            Matriarchs and Patriarchs
            Friendship
Romantic Love
            Mariolatry
            Romance and Chivalry
           Dante and the Divine Comedy
Love as Amusement
            Courtly Love
            Love as a Game
Love and Conflict
            Mirabell and Millamant
            Tracy and Hepburn
Love and Marriage
            The Victorian Model
            New Versions
            Love in a Time of Health Hazards
            Love and Older People
            Imagining a World in Which Only Sex Exists
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
14. Life-Affirmation
Images of Death
            A Memorable Heroic Image
            Death in the Popular Arts
            Dearth at a Distance
            Catastrophes
Strategies for Dealing with Death
            Death in Real Terms
            Avoidance of Death Talk
            Humor
            Magnifying and Beautifying Death
            The Medicalization of Death
Death in Literature
            Death and Children
            Facing the Inevitable Before It Happens
Death in Music
Death in Philosophy
            Death and An Afterlife
            Death and Fate
Symbolic Death
            Unworth
            Symbolic Suicide
            Symbolic Murder
Models of Life Affirmation
            The Phoenix
            There is Only Now
            Reinventing Ourselves
            Guilt and Forgiveness
Learning Objectives
Key Terms
Topics for Writing and Discussion
 
 
Need MS for these chapters
 
15. Nature
Overview
Romantic Views of Nature
        Early Warnings
        The Forest of Arden
        The Decay of Nature
        The Urban Attitude
Thoreau
        Nature as an Awesome Force
        The Frankenstein Monster
        Nature and Native Americans
       &nb...

Summary

The Art of Being Human, Tenth Edition,introduces students to the ways in which the humanities can broaden their perspectives, enhance their ability to think critically, and enrich their lives.
 
Ideal for the one-semester humanities course, this well-respected book has been lauded for its scope, accessibility, and writing style.  Featuring a unique topical organization, Part I introduces the humanities as a technique for living, by connecting the arts to students' daily lives, utilizing the humanities to foster critical thinking skills, and examining their mythic origins.  Part II explores the individual genres of literature, art, music, theater, musical theater, and cinema.  Part III looks at provocative themes in the humanities: religion, morality, happiness, love, life and death, nature, and freedom.
 
This text can be packaged at no additional cost with MyHumanitiesKit, which offers a wealth of resources including art and music, and chapter review quizzes.

Product details

• Authors: Thelma Altshuler, Thelma C. Altshuler, Richard Janaro, Richard Paul Janaro
• Publisher: Pearson Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.01.2011
• EAN: 9780205022472
• ISBN: 978-0-205-02247-2
• No. of pages: 576
• Weight: 910 g
• Series: Longman; Longman
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History