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(Check this box to acknowledge.) 1. List a few characteristics of each of the ages described by Ovid:   (We will ignore the Age of Bronze, since the description is so brief.) The Golden Age: The Age of Silver: The Age of Iron: 2.  In describing the origins and early development of the Christian notion of an Apocalypse Paul Boyer provides a great number of details, most of which you do not have to remember.  Therefore, in responding to the questions below, try to not become so lost in the details that you miss the big picture. a) In your own words define the word “Apocalypse,” as it is used in the reading for this week.” b) List three elements in the story John tells in Revelation that will be particularly important to remember when considering how the Christian idea of the Apocalypse shaped later Western notions of the future. 3. To get the most return on the time that you devote to studying for this course with you will need to read actively with the assigned materials, constantly making decisions about what is and is not worth remembering, linking what you are reading to other things that you have encountered in this course or elsewhere in your life, and organizing the material in your mind so you can make use of it in the future. [To see how I would approach this reading click here to hear my "thoughts" as I read through the passage that just proceded the one below.] Below you will find a paragraph from Paul Boyer’s When Time Shall Be No More.  Read it carefully and then answer the questions below:     But if the apocalyptic had multiple sources, it reached its apogee among the Jews.  Scholars have identified at least sixteen Judaic works in this genre.  One Jewish source from circa 100 A.D. mentions the existence of seventy apocalypses.  While many early people viewed history apocalyptically, as a reflection of the gods’ titanic struggles, Judaism proved particularly congenial to this worldview.  As Ruth Bloch has observed, the Jews' belief in a God ‘known primarily through his people’s experiences on earth [produced] a particularly keen sense of the sacred significance of secular history.’  In addition, Judaism's linear conception of time, in which history has a distinct beginning and follows a clearly defined forward trajectory, further encouraged an eschatological vision of history culminating in a series of cosmic and end-time events.  As a deeply religious and comparatively weak people surrounded by powerful, warring neighbors, the Jews were further drawn to a cosmology involving supernatural conflict and the ultimate triumph of righteousness.  a) List three things in this paragraph that you do think are not important to remember for our purposes in this course and explain why you think that they are really not worth remembering. [In other words what are some of the things in this paragraph that you should forget in order to leave room in your mind for more important ideas from the readings.] List one thing that you think you should not try remember from this paragraph for the purposes of this course: Very briefly explain why you think that this is not essential: List a second thing that you think you should remember from this paragraph for the purposes of this course: Very briefly explain why you think that this is essential: Look back over the earlier paragraphs from Boyer's When Time Shall Be No More in the reader. Find a short passage that you believe can help you better understand the material in the paragraph quoted above and copy it below: Briefly explain how you think that the earlier passage can be of use in understanding the one we are dealing with in this assignment.   3. In the last several decades the word "apocalyptic" has come to be used so loosely that it can stand for any future marked by widespread destruction (i.e. the "Mad Max" movies). But for the purpose of reconstructing the development of Western notions of the future in the Jewish and Christian traditions, we will need to be more precise. Using the material in the reader from Boyer's When Time Shall Be No More to identify three central characteristics of the apocalyptic visions that appeared in the era of the Roman Empire. Write the first characteristic of these apocalyptic visions here: Write the second characteristic of these apocalyptic visions here: Write the third characteristic of these apocalyptic visions here: 4. Read carefully the selections from Winwood Reade’s The Martyrdom of Man in the course reader, comparing the state of human beings at the beginning and at the end of the passage.  In what crucial ways does he believe the human condition will change from prehistoric times to the distant future? a) In the box below describe in your own words one of the most important differences in the human condition at the beginning and the end of the process described by Winwood Reade. b) In the box below describe in your own words a second important difference. c) In the box below describe in your own words a third most important difference. or your answers