Ch.20 Arts Of The Pacific And Of The Americas Exam Questions

Living with Art, 12e (Getlein)

Chapter 20 Arts of the Pacific and of the Americas

1) What is the role of the Kwakiutl mask?

A) Symbol for victory in war and games

B) Guardian of the stars

C) Healing spirit for the sick

D) Mythical bird who eats human flesh

2) What is a similarity between the feather cloaks of Hawaii and the meetinghouses of the Maori people of New Zealand?

A) They both are imbued with protective powers of the gods.

B) They both represent human control over natural forces.

C) They both commemorate important war victories.

D) They both are used exclusively by women.

3) How was the tumbaga pendant showing a Tairona ruler created?

A) Carving

B) Etching

C) Casting

D) Assembling

4) What Polynesian practice, considered sacred, was performed ritually by a specialist, known as a tukuka?

A) Tattooing

B) Scarification

C) Foot binding

D) Forehead elongation

5) What culture is often called the "mother culture" because it seemed to have institutionalized the features that mark later civilizations in the Mesoamerican region?

A) Inca

B) Olmec

C) Maya

D) Aztec

6) What is now understood to be the primary concern of Mayan art?

A) Recording history

B) Depicting cosmic events

C) Jewelry and other symbols of wealth

D) Everyday use

7) What was the preferred material for the early Olmec and Maya cultures?

A) Gold

B) tumbaga

C) Jade

D) Fiber

8) What is the essential concern of many arts of the North American Indians?

A) Cosmology

B) Daily life

C) Record keeping

D) Procreation

9) The monumental sculptures of Easter Island were carved from what material?

A) Jade

B) Marble

C) Terra cotta 

D) Volcanic rock

10) Why are many Mimbres ceramics, recovered from graves, shattered or pierced?

A) The craftsmanship was low level.

B) They represent the breaking of the human body in death.

C) They are works that were rejected by the artist.

D) The circumstances of death were less than honorable.

11) Much Aboriginal art seeks to portray the concept of ________, a medium from which all earthly forms emerged.

A) Moche

B) katsina

C) Dreamtime

D) tukuka

12) What was NOT an achievement of the Mayan culture?

A) An advanced writing system

B) Astronomy

C) Oil painting

D) The mathematical concept of zero

13) Where was the art of goldsmith's first developed in the Americas?

A) Peru

B) Teotihuacán

C) Yucatán

D) Cliff Palace

14) A kiva is a large, underground ceremonial chamber of the ________ people.

A) Anasazi

B) Moche

C) Tairona

D) Maori

15) What style did T. C. Cannon incorporate into his art, merging it with his own Native American heritage?

A) French impressionism

B) Polynesian Dreamtime

C) American modernism

D) Japanese scroll painting

16) Why was Quetzalcoatl, who frequently appeared in much art of Central America, so important to Mesoamerican cultures? 

A) He built the city of Teotihuacán.

B) He facilitated the domestication of animals.

C) He brought rain and water through windstorms.

D) He protected the Aztec people from other, less-friendly gods.

17) What still-visible site is from the Eastern Woodlands cultures known collectively as the "mound builders"?

A) Spiral Jetty

B) Serpent Mound

C) Feathered Serpent

D) Pyramid of the Sun

18) The Moche of South America left a substantial record of art that includes:

A) hundreds of huge stone sculptures commonly depicting fierce owls.

B) intricately painted ornamental eggs.

C) a small temple with a completely gold-lined interior chamber.

D) tens of thousands of ceramic objects, often depicting kneeling warriors.

19) What features are present in Self-Portrait in the Studio, by T. C. Cannon?

A) Flattened forms

B) Pointillist technique

C) Collage incorporating bead work

D) Rich and vibrant colors

E) Ornamental textures

20) ________ was considered a sacred substance by many North American peoples and the vehicle for delivery became a sculptural art form.

A) Water

B) Dirt

C) Charcoal

D) Tobacco

21) Like the ziggurats of Mesopotamia, Mesoamerican pyramids were symbolically understood as what?

A) Mountains

B) Fertility goddesses

C) The human mind

D) The universe

22) What building method was used to construct Pyramid of the Sun ? 

A) Post-and-lintel 

B) Geodesic dome 

C) Load-bearing

D) Corbelling

23) Compare the ways in which two different cultures discussed in this chapter use visual symbols, relating your comments to specific works or types of works.

24) Discuss the ways in which the various cultures of the Pacific and the Americas believed that they could interact with the spirit world. Describe how these beliefs manifested in art from these cultures. What commonalities do you find? 

25) Consider the ways in which the artists of early North American cultures used materials in their natural environment to create their art. How does this aspect of their art relate to their cultural beliefs? 

26) Explain the effects the European conquest of the Americas had on the native inhabitants, their culture, and their arts.

27) Describe the rituals of bloodletting or human sacrifice in Mesoamerican cultures. For what reasons were these rituals practiced? How were these rituals represented in artworks or architecture?

28) Choose artworks from two different cultures that were presented in this chapter and discuss how their art depicts the sacred realm. Discuss how the works represent and reflect on the human experience of life and death.

29) Consider the stone figures on Ahu Naunau, Easter Island. Discuss interpretations of the possible meanings of these statues and explain the process of their creation.

30) Summarize the background of the artist T. C. Cannon. Using the artworks in this chapter, describe how he incorporated his Native heritage into his art. What elements of his paintings point to his cultural background? 

31) Discuss the art of tattooing, the culture that practiced it, the process, and how it was considered a sacred act.