Short and Long Answer Questions
(assignment 24)

(1) assignments appear in the syllabus on the day assigned, not the day due

(2) You must submit your written work by blackboard

(3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE (5% penalty if you do not).

All files should be saved on your computer as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 24, the file name would be:

hussein_sa_24.doc

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 24



Questions on Strayer

1) As the author points out, in our own age, the idea that there is such a thing as a group of people known “the French” who live in a nation called France (or “Turks” who live in a country called Turkey) seems so natural that we forget how very recent this idea is. Indeed; it emerged in the course of the 19th century and so, for example, people in what is now the country of Italy have only thought of themselves as Italians for just over a century.

In two paragraphs of your own words and only your own words, explain:
A) How did people define both themselves and their relationship to government before the rise of the idea of nationalism?
B) how did the Enlightenment, the French revolution, and publishing help bring about the concept of the “nation”?

Question Ferguson Reading

(each question will likely require 3-4 sentences to answer; rememer to be specific and provide examples)

1) Why is it somewhat ironic or surprising that the 20th century turned out to be far bloodier than any previous century?

2) What are the three reasons that Ferguson gives for the violence of the twentieth century?

3) How, in the 19th century, did new political philosophies attacking inherited wealth and power end up deepening people’s certainty that there were “races” with inherited qualities?

4) why did the new idea of “the nation” mean that the massive violence of the 20th century would occur more in Central and Eastern Europe than other places? (if you don’t know the following words, you will likely need look them up to understand this section of the reading and be able to answer this question: heterogeneous, homogeneous, discrepancy, proprietor)

5) Ferguson argues that if one focuses on economic volatility rather simple economic crisis, the timing of the violence of the 20th century makes more sense. Explain the difference between volitality and crisis and the relationship between economic volatility and racial hatred.