Question one
If I were to choose the century in which I would live in Europe, with no doubt, the 18th century would be my best bet. The century was marked by significant economic transformations and inventions that made life right for every citizen in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom supported its nationals as was evidenced by the government, which introduced support system schemes for poor people in the community. Moreover, there were government projects that were spearheaded with the aim of ensuring that the semi-skilled people earned some source of living. The introduced system of socialism united the nation. However, Industrial revolution notably changed the concept of mass production and the use of machinery which is also linked to the economic prosperity of the country at the time. The period was marked with enlightenments where new developments took place, and the concept of learning was highly praised. In this era, there were abundant coffee shops where learned fellows would gather and treat the other citizens the necessary things of life. The industrial revolution inspired humanity in this era in the form of writing, trade and the education sector. The operation of various machines needed one to be skilled and thus necessitated the need for knowledge advancement.
Question two
The Roman Catholic building best describes the 17th century. During this period, people had begun to be spiritual and thus sought for a place of worship. There was also a mix up of various religious dominations with each aiming for supremacy over the others. In particular, the paintings reflected the Catholic faith with the ceiling having a reflection of the heavens. The Roman Catholic Church desired a building that would resonate with the illiterate members of the society and have some bit of dramatization in it. The era was marked by major religious upheaval, and the building best describes this. Both neoclassicism and rococo were visual acts that represented art, culture and tradition among the European people.
In particular, the rococo focused on light colors and small shapes to symbolize certain concepts. The neoclassicism was merely an advancement of rococo which made some of its features quite similar. The similarities also included having use of colors to illustrate their different views and finally both used a creative form of decoration to exemplify the beauty regarding both sculptures as it was the case with rococo and using statutes for neoclassicism. The main differences between the two styles were that rococo focused on decorative styles while neoclassicism focused on nationalism. Further, the rococo style focused on light-hearted arts, unlike the neoclassicism which illustrated confidence and courage.
Question Three
Rationalism is more persuasive than empiricism because it well communicates the reasons under whatever circumstances and allows the reader to make critical decisions about certain aspects of their lives. Rationalism represents knowledge that is gained from evidence and understanding, hence has same facts to support its reasoning. Rationalism takes advantage of a person’s senses to make assumptions about a particular phenomenon. The rationalists used their experience with new scientific inventions to decipher a given situation, and they were able to assess a situation from different perspectives. Some of the famous philosophers who followed rationalism included Descartes, Leibniz, and Spinoza. For example, Descartes claimed that innate idea and conceived in the mind, and they are only revealed through someone’s actions and words.
Absolutism follows that every nation should have a single ruler who is entitled to everything under the land and thus makes all the rules. Liberalism, on the other hand, followed democracy and cited that everyone has their mind and thus should be free. Liberalism is more persuasive seeing that a single ruler may not always be the best and as humans, people have a sense of right and wrong and can make the right choices. Some of the famous liberalists include Aristotle, Niccolo and Thomas Gordon, who advocated for the freedom of speech.
Question four
Performing arts gained much popularity during the 17th century. Some of the advancements included performances of poems, music, dances and even songs. Daphne was mainly performed to a large crowd of people across different cities and even the aristocracy. During this period Puritans sought to take over seeking to purify the Roman Catholic Church from their various beliefs and make the nation purely Protestant. Some of the famous thespians like Shakespeare wrote some stage plays that were performed in different theaters. There was also a rise of musical performances with music seeming to have taken a center stage in most of the performances.
The increase of lyrical music saw some separation of the gospel and secular music, something that was disputed by the Puritans. The 18th century was marked by the development of theaters and even the expansion of the preexisting ones, and this was important because it created a platform where different performance artists would showcase their talent, earn and at the same time keep people entertained. Towards the 18th century, there was an introduction of dance in the performing arts. Opera also gained much popularity during this stage and as a result attracted a large crowd of people.
Question five
Religion had gained much populism with puritans taking the center stage during the 17th century, something that was reflected in the fictional literacy work. There was also a reflection of romance and love in some of the literacy work with Juliet and Romeo by William Shakespeare best-describing love between two people. Further, a rise in prostitution in this error encouraged different authors to write plays that would advise the natives on where best to get a prostitute. William Shakespeare had managed to become a famous figure amongst most writers, and he would, in this case, be referred to as the godfather of theater plays. The 18th century had seen a rise in novels and fictional writing with libraries cropping up to encourage sharing of the reading materials. Novels at this juncture also reflect what was happening at the time, romance, religion, and even enlightenment. Pride and Prejudice novel written by Miss Austen best described the ordinary life of England at the time, which was filled with comedy and realism.
The age of enlightenment meant that people became aware of their surroundings and learned how to communicate which included articulating their different feelings. The industrial revolution at this time brought forth trade and hence people had to relate often and thus had to master how they would communicate to each other. There was also an interaction of the upper and lower class people, something that Austen best describes in the pride and prejudice. In dance, for example, the rich had their ballrooms which were separate from the poor and this best describes the demarcation that existed between the two groups.
