Paragraph Breaks: Quiz 1

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Medieval bestiaries are collections of folklore about the animal world. They often contain some wonderful and strange information. Some of the more bizarre explanations are based on the perceived origins (the etymology) of the animal’s name. [1] For example, the beaver is usually said to get its name (castor in Latin) from the fact that it sometimes castrates itself. The beaver’s testicles are used for medicine, and since the beaver seems to know this fact, it will bite off its own testicles if it knows it cannot escape the hunter. [2] Another curious story concerns the badger. [3] Badgers have apparently come up with an ingenious way to dig a hole. One badger lies on its back with a stick in its mouth. Other badgers then pile the dirt on top of the badger’s belly. Then two badgers bite down on the ends of the stick and drag away the first badger as if it’s a wheelbarrow. Who knew that badgers were so inventive?

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If you ever play the game Ticket to Ride, you’ll soon find out that there are two kinds of players. Some people are perfectly happy to focus on building their own network of trains, whereas others go out of their way to block you. The two groups don’t always get along. [1] I remember playing a game with another couple where the husband intentionally blocked his wife. At first she was so surprised she could hardly speak. Then she got mad and refused to ever play with him again. [2] My approach to playing games is quite different. [3] When you play a game you should be allowed to take any action legally permitted by the rules. In the case of Ticket to Ride, blocking is a viable strategy. In fact, if you focus only on your own routes, the game is simply a race to see who can finish first. When I play a game I want to experience tension and surprise, I want to know that the other players are doing everything they can to stop me. [4] That way, I can experience the thrill of cutting them off without feeling bad about it. To paraphrase the golden rule, do unto others what they might do unto you.

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Although the Freemasons have had such famous members as Benjamin Franklin and Winston Churchill, the general public has often been suspicious of this secret society. For example, as Giles Morgan points out, “many thousands of Freemasons were amongst those persecuted and killed by the Nazis during the Second World War” (10). [1] More recently, some conspiracy theories suggest that the Freemasons are controlled by the Illuminati, a secret organization of powerful leaders who try to control world events. [2] US Presidents are often whispered to be members of the Illuminati. [3] Such distrust is not entirely surprising, given not only the secrecy surrounding the Freemasons, but also the elaborate rites of initiation and the hierarchy that define the organization. [4] While the Freemasons emphasize a fraternal brotherhood (and infrequently sisterhood), the roles in a masonic lodge are highly structured, ranging from the Tyler who guards the door to the Worshipful Master who governs the lodge and leads its ceremonies (Morgan 15-17). It is not entirely surprising, then, that people associate the Freemasons with organized crime, or that some police forces ask officers to declare if they are members.

Work Cited: Morgan, Giles. Freemasonry. Pocket Essentials, 2009.

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An unexpected victim of the fight to protect the rhinoceros from poaching is the saiga, an antelope living in Russia and Mongolia. The rhinoceros has long been killed because of its horn, which according to traditional Chinese medicine has strong healing properties. [1] In the early 1990s, the WWF tried to stem the illegal trade in rhinoceros horns by suggesting that the horn of the saiga might prove a suitable substitute. [2] Sadly, the saiga horn became so desirable that millions of saiga were killed and the saiga is now as endangered as the rhinoceros. [3] While various conservation solutions have been proposed, the best remedy to stop poaching is to fight the belief in traditional medicine. [4] As Richard Ellis writes, “Where Western medicine prescribes synthetic compounds such as aspirin and ibuprofen for reduction of swelling, pain relief, and headache—and has even developed a synthetic stimulant (Viagra) for erectile dysfunction in men—TCM [traditional Chinese medicine] cleaves to natural drugs, massage, and acupuncture” (142). Unfortunately, traditional beliefs and practices are difficult to change, even when they threaten the existence of entire species.

Work Cited: Ellis, Richard. Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn: The Destruction of Wildlife for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Island Press, 2005.

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Many socialist politicians believe that private education is not in the public interest. From their perspective, private schools are too expensive and elitist, or they teach religious values that are seen as intolerant or backwards. [1] Why should public money be diverted from state-sponsored schools where the government has more control over the curriculum? If people want to set up their own school, so the argument goes, they should be willing to pay for their choice. [2] However, not all socialist countries use this logic to determine their funding formulas. [3] In the Netherlands, for example, the government is committed to equal funding for all schools. It does not matter whether a school follows a particular pedagogical model or serves a specific faith community—the funding remains the same. [4] Such a policy is guided by a different understanding of socialism, one that emphasizes variety and choice in education. [5] In other words, the real issue is how one defines the public good. [6] Should public money serve the interests of the party in control of government or should it benefit everyone equally? If a citizen pays taxes and contributes to the public purse, is it fair to limit this money to public education? After all, a citizen who pays taxes and supports an unfunded private school would effectively be forced to pay twice. [7] Some may say that this is a choice, but the question is whether socialism, a doctrine that promotes the welfare of all, should impose such a choice in the first place.

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It is not often that one has the pleasure of teaching a student as enthusiastic and interested as Mary. Perhaps because she was home-schooled in high-school, she lacks the cynicism about class participation that is so common among her peers. [1] Mary always comes to class, does the readings, and asks intelligent questions. She is not fawning or bubbly, but is genuinely excited to learn and to contribute with her own wisdom. [2] Because of her positive mindset, Mary responds well to feedback and has been able to improve her writing skills significantly this semester. [3] What further impresses me about Mary is her willingness to help others. She tutors a number of dorm students who struggle with English, and does so entirely of her own initiative. [4] These kinds of efforts exemplify the values of the university, including the goal to train citizens for the common good.

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Mapmakers have long struggled to depict the spherical earth on a flat surface. For example, on a traditional Mercator Map, the regions closer to the earth’s poles are inflated in size. The advantage of such a map lies in its use in navigation. [1] If you draw a straight line on the map and travel along the same angle you will get to your destination. In technical terms, you can easily chart a rhumb line (a straight line showing constant compass bearing) on a Mercator Map. [2] The weakness of such a map lies in the visual distortion it creates. A Mercator Map creates the illusion that landmasses closer to the poles are larger than they actually are. Greenland, for instance, looks like it is the size of Africa, whereas it is almost fourteen times smaller. [3] Some have even argued that the Mercator Map favours nations in the northern hemisphere and devalues developing nations in places like Africa and South America. [4] One map that tries to correct the problem is the Peters Projection Map (also known as the Gall-Peters Projection). [5] In 1973, Arno Peters, a German filmmaker and historian, was looking for a better way of representing the sizes of countries around the globe. His map attempts to show the actual size of all areas (oceans included). The Peters Projection map was in part an ideological statement, and while it has been much criticized it also led many organizations to adopt more accurate world maps.

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Fear of the dead is a common phenomenon around the world. The belief in vampires and revenants can be seen as a response to the fear that the spirits of the dead are not truly at rest until they receive sacrifices (often involving blood) or are killed a second time. [1] As Paul Barber writes, the underlying fear is a fear of death itself:

By a far-reaching analogy, the dead are blamed for sickness and death: death comes, in other words, from the dead, who, through jealousy, anger, or longing, seek to bring the living into their realm. And to prevent this, the living attempt to neutralize or propitiate the dead—by proper funerary and burial rites, by “killing” the corpse a second time, or by sacrifice—until the dead have become powerless. (197)

[2] Thus we see that in some cultures the revenant must be staked or cremated, whereas elsewhere the head must be cut off and placed behind the buttocks, perhaps as an act of shaming. [3] By contrast, contemporary fascination with vampires seems to stem from different causes. We tend to watch horror movies out of a desire for entertainment, not because we necessarily believe in the existence of vampires and other undead beings (e.g., ghouls, zombies). [4] Similarly, Halloween celebrations seem less based on primordial fears about death and more about giving young children a good time. [5] At the same time, such a desire for entertainment may hide an underlying fear that no supernatural reality exists. A fascination with the undead may signify an attempt to fill in the spiritual vacuum left by unbelief. People like a scary story because they want proof that they have conquered their fear of the unknown.

Work Cited: Barber, Paul. Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality. Yale UP, 1988.