History 3900--Global Encounters

Question Set B

Submit written answers to the starred questions (*) on the due date.

Achebe, Part I (Oct 9)

1. Describe Okonkwo's character

*2. When and how do things start falling apart for Okonkwo?

3. Describe the principles of justice represented in chapter 10

Achebe Part II-III (Oct 14)

4. Who is Nwoye, and why does he convert to Christianity?  Consider both chaps. 7 and 16

5. In what ways did Christianity unravel traditional Ibo society?

*6. What are three reasons Mr. Brown, the missionary, is successful in Umuofia?

7. Describe British justice (chap. 23) and how does it compare to Ibo justice (chap. 10)?

8. What is Achebe saying about imperialism with the story of Okonkwo?

Fremont-Barnes (13-22) (Oct 16)

*9. Offer two reasons why Boers were suspicious and resentful of the British in the late nineteenth century.

10. Explain why the discovery of gold threatened the Boers' way of life.

11. In Rhodes's thinking, in what sense was it a "duty" for the British to expand around the world?

Pearson and Kipling (Oct 21)

12. Explain how Pearson's theory of history can be used to support imperialist expansion

13. What does Rudyard Kipling mean when he writes "Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need"?

Fremont-Barnes (23-70) (Oct 23)

14. What was a key strength and key weakness of Boer war strategy?

15. What explains British failures early in the war?

*16. In general terms, what did it take to finally defeat the Boers?

Fremont-Barnes (74-91) (Oct 30)

*17. What was one significant change that Emily Hobhouse was able to accomplish, and one thing she was not

able to accomplish?

18. What were the key issues in the peace negotiations, and what were the Boers able to get for themselves?

19. It might be said that Britain won the war but lost the peace.  Offer a few arguments in support of this argument.

Baden-Powell--Scouting for Boys (Nov 4)

20. What are the main threats to the British Empire, according to Baden-Powell?

21. What does Britain need to preserve its empire?

22. How are Indians characterized in the "Display" the boys are encouraged to enact about John Nicolson? 

China Under the Treaties--Gregory and Veeser (Nov 6)

23. What are two reasons westerners developed a negative view of China and the Chinese in the late 19^th century?

24. What prevented China from falling completely under Western control?

25. What were two events or experiences that convinced Sun Yatsen that China needed drastic reform?

26. What was Sun's view of the United States?

Indian Nationalism--Judd, ch. 7 (Nov 11)

27. What were signs of trouble for the Raj as the 20^th century began?

28. Describe briefly what the Morley-Minto Act did and did not do.

*29. What did the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, declare in 1817?

Gandhi--Judd, ch. 8 (Nov 13)

30. Why was satyagraha a powerful weapon against the Raj?

*31. What were the Rowlatt Acts, and why were they disliked by Indians?

32. Churchill agreed with General Dyer that it was important to "teach a lesson" to the Indians.  What was the lesson that Indians actually learned from the Amritsar Massacre?

Rao--Kanthapura, chaps. 2-3 (Nov 18)

33. What were two changes that Moorthy wanted to make in the life of the village?

*34.  Who was threatened by these changes, and why?

Rao--Kanthapura, chaps. 13-16 (Nov 20)

35. Explain whether the actions against alcohol sales were successful or not

*36. Describe the role of women in these chapters, and consider what their role suggests

about Gandhi's movement.