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Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What is the name of the sacrificial drink pressed from a plant?
2. The traditional _____ in the Rig Veda is the tale of the king and the priest.
3. An Asura is a form of high ____.
4. What work does the author think the "The Boy and the Chariot" might be the kernel of?
5. What is the sky divided into in "A Spell to Turn Back the Departing Spirit"?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is the meaning of the horse carrying the body in "Requiem for a Horse"?
2. What is the actual content of the secret in "The Mystery of Agni"?
3. In "Aditi and the Birth of the Gods", what does the author think is meant by the poet's seeing the birth of the gods?
4. What is the function of the enclosing-sticks in "The Hymn of Man" as opposed to the fuel-sticks?
5. What are the first ritual laws called, and what is their purpose?
6. How is butter visualized in the hymn, "Butter"?
7. In the hymn "The Child of the Waters", what do the three women give to the deity, and why?
8. What is the sacrificial horse identified with?
9. What is the function of the goat in "The Funeral Fire"?
10. What is the sacred grass in "The Hymn of Man" and what is it used for?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Describe how Soma is symbolic. What is it made from? What is its function? Who uses it? Why?
Essay Topic 2
There are many metaphors for the sun in the Rig Veda. Find examples of these and explain how they are used. The sun itself is a metaphor for which gods? Cite examples.
Essay Topic 3
How does the author characterize the nature of the Rig Veda in the section entitled "Realia"? Why are the gods usually invoked? What is her opinion on the relationship between the ideas in the Rig Veda and the material world?
This section contains 643 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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