Please don’t forget to post your group’s questions to the comments section. Also, read part one of “Orientalism.” We’ll save the questions for another time.
If the Marx reading confused you, be sure to re-read it tonight.
The Orient
Comments
Dong Hun Kim on Hello Folks K-h Sol Shin on Hello Folks Chris Donghyuk Choo on Hello Folks jun5hero on Hello Folks Hansel Jaewan Park on Hello Folks
Comp Two 
Mina Kim, Jieun Hwang, Phil Chae, Jim Kim
Comprehension questions
1. Why is saying “the earliest X” contradictory?
2. What proves the fact that early Australians and New Guineans were not inferior to people in other continents?
3. What does the disappearance of large animals signify? What is its long-term effect on the Australians/New Guineans?
Discussion questions
1. Is Diamond’s choice of evidence objective and appropriate?
2. In your opinion, what does “head start” mean? List some criteria and explain why they are significant.
Comp q
1. Why does Diamond support the Pre-Clovis theory?
2. What example does he use to support the “Overkill theory”?
3. What geographical factor led to the Great Leap Forward?
Discussion q
1. What do you think about Jared Diamond’s theory? What parts do you agree with and what parts do you disagree with?
2. Do you think he is biased or not? How does his mode of writing affect his view and credibility?
Suzie Soeun Eugene Dorothy
Comprehension Questions
1. Do you think that brain size is relevant to intelligence?
2. Aside from the environments in which they live, what other factors do you think can affect
the differences among populations?
3. What is the purpose of Chapter 1?
Discussion Questions
1. Why did the Neanderthals get wiped out by the Cro-Magnons despite their being there sooner?
2. What causes do you think may have caused the mass extinction of the ‘giant’ animals, other
than the arrival of humans and climate change?
Class A Daniel, Brian, Hansel, Jayden
Ginha, Ju Hyun, Henry, Dong Won
Comprehension Questions:
1) Why did mega fauna in New Guinea/Australia become extinct? Explain theories Diamond gives.
2) Did the Great Leap Forward take place in one geographic area or did it occur in parallel in different regions? Give supporting and counter evidence.
3) Why and where did watercraft rise?
Discussion Questions:
1) Explain what you think as a “head start.”
2) Let’s say you were transported back in time after reading “Up to the Starting Line.” Lay out your strong case for any of the continents.
Class B
Saemi Han, Brittany Moon, Abby Kim, Jina Woo
Comprehension Questions:
1. What are the two sides that explain the sudden disappearances of big mammal species in Australia/New Guinea? Which side does the author support?
2.Name an advantage that each continent had to be able to progress faster than the others.
3.What continents were the last ones to be occupied by human beings and why?
Discussion Questions:
1.What is your take on the pre-Clovis issue? Which argument sounds more convincing?
2. What are the two major unresolved questions posed by the Great Leap Forward? What is the significance of the answers for these questions? Why do they matter?
Andrew, Ilene, Jessie, Deborah
Comprehension Qns.
1) What is the ‘Overkill Hypothesis’ and what are the two conflicting sides and their reasons?
2) What are the two opinions on pre-clovis hunters of America and what is author’s opinion about this?
3) How does the author trace the evolution of human?
Discussion Qns
1) Are you convinced of his argument that the answer to Yali’s question, the reason of different rate of development, lies after 11,000b.c?
2) Say you are the archaeologist transported to 11,000 b.c by the time machine. Which continent do you think got the ‘head start’ and what does ‘head start’ mean in your theory?
Class B
Chris, Jeffrey, Minho, Victor
Comprehension Qns
1. Why does Diamond say that the colonization of Austrailia and New Guinea is not a coincidence?
2. Why couldn’t people settle in Siberia until 20,000 b.c?
3. Explain Diamond’s position in the debate over the possibility of pre-Clvis settlement.
Discussion Qns
1. Would Diamond agree with the view point of animal conservationists?
2. Why Diamond values domestication as important as agriculture?
pre-Clovis*
Hail, Kevin, Joe, K.H
Comprehension Questions
1. What is the significance of protohumans moving into Australia/New Guinea?
2. What does Diamond present as the evidence of the “overkill” theory?
3. In what order were the continents inhibited, and why (in that order)?
Discussion Questions
1. What do you think was the cause of the Great Leap Forward? Was it really a “progress” for mankind? What benefits/drawbacks does it have?
2. If big mammals (megafauna) were not killed off during the Great Leap Forward, and some animals were domesticated, do you think the speed of progress in the world might have changed? Why or why not?
Class B
Moses, Heeyoung, Kallen, Pearl
Comprehension Questions
1. Why does Diamond choose 11,000 BC as his starting line?
2. What theory of mass extinction does Diamond buy into? How does he refute the counterarguments? Why does the extinction of animals on Australia and in America matter?
3. Does Diamond believe that any continent really had a head start? How do you know?
Discussion
1. What is the significance of the Great Leap Forward in this chapter?
2. What continent, in your opinion, had the best chances of domination in 11,000 BC?
Dahyun Kim, Jeon Hye Yoon, Sonia Lee, Grace Hwang
Comprehension Qs
1. Write human evolutionary steps in order.
2. Who are the Clovis?
3. What are the three closest living relatives to humans?
Discussion Qs
1. What is the relationship between human arrivals and extinction of large mammals?
2. How did the prehistoric people become like modern humans?
Ji hee Hwang, Michelle Cha, Jin Oh, Eunjeong Cho
Comp 1. In which continents could humans domesticate large mammals? In which could they not? Why?
2. Was the population growth of the first Americas impossible to achieve? Why or why not? State the calculation Diamond uses.
3. How does Diamond use scientific analysis to support a theory? Give two examples.
Dis. 1. What do you think was the relationship between the Neanderthals and the Homo Sapiens?
2. Did the Great Leap Forward stem out from Africa, or did it simultaneously happen in different parts of the world? What’s your opinion? Why?
Sara Kim, Jennifer Han, Daphne Park, Jacklyn Weon
1. What are the two major unresolved questions that the Great Leap Forward poses? Try to answer them.
2. What is the similar consequence of human colonization in both continents, Americas and Paupa New Guinea/Austrailia, and the effect of that outcome?
3. What are the criterias for being defined as the first modern humans? Why were the Neanderthrals not considered as the first modern humans?
Discussion Question
1. Why did Euraisia come to have dominance over other continents despite it was the last to be colonized by modern humans?
2. How does Diamond disprove pre-Clovis theories and what are the problems of interpretation?