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The Art of Being Human, 9/E
Richard Janaro, New World School of Arts
Thelma Altshuler, Miami Dade College

ISBN-10: 0205605427
ISBN-13: 9780205605422

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2009
Format: Paper; 656 pp
Published: 07/09/2008

Suggested retail price: $117.60
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The Art of Being Human, Ninth Edition, introduces students to the ways in which the humanities can broaden their perspectives, enhance their ability to think critically, and enrich their lives.

Ideal for the one-semester humanities course, this well-respected book has been lauded for its scope, accessibility, and writing style.  Featuring a unique topical organization, Part I introduces the humanities as a technique for living, by connecting the arts to students’ daily lives, utilizing the humanities to foster critical thinking skills, and examining their mythic origins.  Part II explores the individual genres of literature, art, music, theater, musical theater, and cinema.  Part III looks at provocative themes in the humanities: religion, morality, happiness, love, life and death, controversy in the arts, and freedom.

  • Full coverage of the humanities discusses all the important disciplines and examines their connection to prominent social themes.  Students are encouraged to explore how the arts and social themes relate to their own lives.
  • Individual treatment of disciplines and themes allows students to explore one artistic mode or social theme at a time, rather than having to cover multiple disciplines and/or themes in each chapter, which is the case in chronologically organized texts.
  • Flexible organization allows each chapter to stand on its own. Tthe book can be taught in any sequence and can be easily customized to meet the goals of any number of different introductory courses on the Humanities, at both two- and four-year colleges.
  • A diverse range of traditional and contemporary examples of all of the arts strives to familiarize students with the worldwide reach of the humanities by including many examples by artists from outside the West as well as women and minorities working within Western culture.
  • The authors' accessible writing style covers the world of the humanities in a contemporary idiom that students understand and appreciate.
  • An impressive visual program offers more than 160 black and white photos and 40 color plates (presented on three eight-page inserts) to provide students with a rich visual appreciation of the arts. All of the images and their captions are tied directly to discussions within the text.
  • Revised Audio CD offers excerpts, performed by major artists, from musical, poetic, and dramatic works discussed in the text. Icons in the margins of the text indicate when the CD includes a related excerpt. Free when value-packed with the text.

 

• In Part I, a new chapter on critical thinking helps students to develop the skills they need to understand, evaluate, and appreciate the arts, as well as encourages students to apply these skills to their daily lives. 

• Updated examples throughout offer more coverage of contemporary works than any other text on the market to help students understand the connection between the arts of today and the great works of the past.  New additions include in-depth discussions of Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Natalie Gordimer’s “The Beneficiary," Alan Bennett’s hit play History Boys, the Broadway smash Rent, the music and humanitarianism of U2, and countless other influential modern works from all genres. 

• Revised layout for color inserts brings the pieces closer to where they are discussed in the text and allows us to add more color images than ever before!

• Updated pedagogy adds new topics for writing and discussion to challenge your students, updated marginal quotations, as well as over 60 new visuals,ranging from forgotten classics to emerging masterpieces.

• More examples by non-Western, minority, and women artists help students appreciate the worldwide reach and universal appeal of the humanities.

• In response to requests from professors across the country, the new edition includes an extended discussion of architecture, and returns the “Controversial Themes and the Humanities” chapter back to Part III.

• Revised complex sections of the book, identified by numerous reviewers, to be more accessible overall and engage students in a meaningful way.

• Revised subtitle, “The Humanities as a Technique for Living,” highlights, reflects, and emphasizes the humanities as a way of living one’s life.

 

I. EXPLORING THE HUMANITIES

 

1. The Humanities: Still Vital

Overview of this Book

Defining the Humanities

Gifts of the Humanities

            Beauty

            Beautiful Movement

            Language

            Ideas

            Deeper Sense of the Past

Becoming an “Infinite” Person

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

2. Profile of the Critical Thinker

Overview

Apollonian and Dionysian Responses to the Humanities

            The Popcorn Syndrome

            Empathy and Alienation

            The Importance of Knowing when a Purely Emotional Response is Appropriate

            The Importance of Responding Critically

Exercising the Mind

            Solving Problems

            Challenging Assumptions

            Recognizing Contexts

A Guide to Critical Viewing: Professional and Personal

            How the Professional Critic Responds

            The Personal Critical Response

Literalists and Figuratists

            Literalist Speech

            Figuartist Speech

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

3. Myth and the Origin of the Humanities

Overview

Archetypes in Mythology

            The Hero as World Myth

            Magic

            The Power of Words

            The Power of Numbers

            The Circle

            The Journey

            The Garden

            Gods as Human Beings

Myth as Explanation

            Creation

            The Natural World

            Human Suffering

            The Perils of Curiosity

            Cursed by Fate

Myths of Childhood

            The Need for Reassurance

            The Importance of Being Attractive and Rich

            The Importance of Names

            The Dark Side

Popular Mythology

            Common Sayings

How Myth Influences the Humanities

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

II. DISCIPLINES OF THE HUMANITIES

 

4. Literature

Overview

Literature as History

            The Basic Literary Impulse: Identity

            The First Epic: Gilgamesh

            Another Early Masterpiece: Homer’s Iliad

Poetry

            Lyrical Poetry

            The Sonnet

            Metaphors and Conceits

            A Modern Love Sonnet

            Haiku

            Simple Forms, Profound Meaning: William Blake

            Religious Poetry

            Beginnings of Modernism, Emily Dickinson

            Poetry of the Harlem Renaissance

            Poetry in Our Time

The Novel

            Early Western Novels

            The Novel in America

            An Afghan Born Novelist

The Short Story

            Magazine Fiction

            Epiphany

            A Master of Style and Meaning

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

5. Art

Overview

            The Need to Imitate

            Let Me See!

            Styles and Media

Creating Likeness in Different Styles

            Classical Art

            Medieval Art

            Giotto

            Renaissance Art

            Leonardo

            Michelangelo

            Raphael

            Two Women of the Post Renaissance

            Rembrandt: The Perfection of Likeness

A Rebellion against Perfect Likeness

            Goya

            Impressionism

           Impressionism in America

            Post-Impressionism

Art as Alternation

            The Sixty-Ninth Regiment Armory Show, 1913

            Cubism: Picasso and Braque

            Unreal Realism

            Surrealism

            Superrealism

            Camera and Computer Art

            Pop Art

            Performance Art

Architecture as Art

            Religious Architecture

            Secular Architecture

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

6. Music

Overview

The Basic Elements of Music

            Tone

            Scale

            Rhythm

            Melody

            Harmony and the Orchestra

            Silence

The Varieties of Musical Experience

            A Bach Fugue

            A Beethoven Symphony

            Art Songs

            Folk Songs

            The Spiritual

            Ragtime

            Jazz

            Blues

            Pop Music

            Rock

            Hip-Hop

            World Music

            Avant-Garde Music

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

7. Theater

Overview

Conventions of Theater

            The Classical Theater of Greece and Rome

            Elizabethan Conventions

            Neoclassical Conventions

            Victorian Conventions

            Modern Conventions

Tragedy

            Greek Tragedy

            Shakespearean Tragedy

            Neoclassical Tragedy

            Modern Tragedy

            Melodrama and Tragedy: A Contrast

Comedy

            Farce

            Contemporary Comedy

            Satire

            The Comedy of Character

Theater of Ideas

            Ibsen

            Shaw

Naturalism

            Chekov

            The Family Theme

A Theatrical Century of Dynamic Change

            The Modern Theater of Ideas

            Racial Themes

            Gay Rights

Backstage

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

8. The Musical Stage: Opera, Music Drama, Dance

Overview

Baroque, Classical, and Romantic Opera

            Monteverdi

            Classical Opera

            Mozart

            Romantic Opera: Verdi

            Wagner

Modern Opera and Operetta

            Joplin’s Treemonisha

            Showboat: An Operetta

            Porgy and Bess

            Other Modern Operas of Note

The Broadway Musical

            Of Thee I Sing

            Pal Joey

            Oklahoma!

            West Side Story

            The Lion King

            Spring Awakening

Dance

            Ballet

            French Ballet: Giselle

Russian Ballet: Tchaikovsky and Diaghilev

            Modern Dance

            Folkloric Tradition

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

9. Cinema

Overview

Conventions of Film

Some Early Milestones

            Art and Propaganda I: D.W. Griffith

            Art and Propaganda II: Sergei Eisenstein

Major Film Genres

            Slapstick Comedy: Sennet and Chaplin

            Farce: The Marx Brothers

            Enduring Appeal of the Animated Film

            Film Noir

            Romantic Comedy

            The Screen Musical

            The Western

            Horror and Suspense Films

            Social Issues

            Documentaries and Docudramas

            Fictionalized Biography

            Loosely Based on the Original

Two American Film Classics

            Citizen Kane

            Casablanca

The Film Auteur

            Ingmar Bergman

            Federico Fellini

            Alfred Hitchcock

            Akira Kurosawa

            Stanley Kubrick

            Francis Ford Coppola

            Martin Scorsese

            Pedro Almodovar

A Word of Critical Viewing

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

III. THEMES IN THE HUMANITIES

 

10. Religion

Overview

The Belief in Many Gods

            Egypt

            Hinduism

            Greek and Roman Polytheism

            Native American Religions

The Belief in an Impersonal Divinity

            How Hinduism led to Buddhism

            Buddhism

            Taoism

            Socrates and Plato

            Aristotle’s Unmoved Mover

The Belief in One God

            Judaism

            Christianity

            Good, Evil, and Augustine

            Logical Proof

            Islam

The Protestant Reformation

The Questioning of Belief

            Agnosticism

            Atheism

            Religion versus…

Religion and the Arts

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

11. Morality

Overview

How We Arrive At Moral Decisions

Moral Systems

Morality and the Arts

The Morality of Self-Interest

            Glaucon versus Socrates

            Enlightened Self-Interest

            Economics and Self-Interest

            Transcending Self-Interest: Altruism

Moral Authorities

            A Philosophical Defense of Altruism

            The Moral Mathematics of Jeremy Bentham

            Utilitarianism Modified: John Stuart Mill

            The Moral Imperative of Immanuel Kant

Religion and Morality

The Morality of Work

Moral Relativism

The Global View

Feminist Morality

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

12. Happiness

Overview

Hedonism: Happiness as Pleasure

            Hedonist Assumptions

            Hedonism Reconsidered

Epicureanism: Avoiding Pain

            Epicurean Assumptions

            Epicureanism Reconsidered

Stoicism: Happiness as a Strategy for Survival

            Stoic Assumptions

            Stoicism Reconsidered

Aristotelianism: Happiness as the Quality of a Whole Lifetime

            Pleasure a Limited Goal; Happiness a Complete Goal

            Providing Happiness: A Government’s Responsibility?

The Humanities and Unhappiness

            Models of a Happy Life

Eastern Philosophy of Happiness

            Gandhi

            Buddhist Paths to Happiness

            The Dalai Lama

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

13. Love

Overview

Body and Soul

            Eros

            Agape

            Family Love

            Friendship

Romantic Love

            Mariolatry

            Romance and Chivalry

            Courtly Love

            Love as a Game

Love and Marriage

            The Victorian Model

            New Versions and Continued Misgivings

            Love in a Time of Health Hazards

            Love and Older People

            Imagining a World in Which Only Sex Exists

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

14. Death and Life-Affirmation

Overview

Images of Death

            Death in the Popular Arts

            Humor

            Magnifying and Beautifying Death

            The Medicalization of Death

            Death in Literature

            Death in Music

            A Philosopher’s Death

            Death and the After-Life

            Death and Fate

Symbolic Death

            Unworth

            Symbolic Suicide

            Symbolic Murder

Models of Life Affirmation

            The Phoenix

            There is Only Now

            Reinventing Ourselves

            Guilt and Forgiveness

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

15. Controversial Themes and the Humanities

Overview

How Some Artists Fared in Their Lifetimes

            Belated Recognition

            Recognition in Life

Reasons for Conflict

            Religious Content

            Political Views

            Sexual Content

            The Artist’s Behavior

            Unfamiliar Form

Repressive Measures Taken Against Art

            Suppression of “Degenerate” Art

            “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Member..?”

            Moral Censorship

Stereotyping as a Form of Repression

            The Stages of Stereotyping

            The Persistence of Stereotypes

Women and the Humanities

            Early Exceptions to the Rule

            Later Getting Closer

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

16. Freedom

Overview

Determinism: The View that all People are Limited in their Choices

            Past and Present Limitations

            Institutional Determinism

            Economic Determinism

            Character Consistency

            Behaviorism

            Genetics

            Sociobiology

Possibilities for Freedom

            A Pessimist’s Definition of the Will

            Regret and Relief

            Psychoanalysis: Freedom through the Conscious Ego

Existentialism

            Religious existentialism

            Secular existentialism

Freedom within Limitations

Key Terms

Topics for Writing and Discussion

 

 

    The Art of Being Human, Eighth Edition, introduces students to the ways in which the humanities can broaden their perspectives, enhance their ability to think critically, and enrich their lives.

    Ideal for the one-semester humanities course, this well-respected book has been lauded for its scope, accessibility, and writing style.  Featuring a unique topical organization, Part I examines ways of responding to the humanities, their mythic origins, and important struggles in the arts.  Part II explores the individual genres of literature, art, music, theater, song and dance, and cinema.  Part III looks at provocative themes in the humanities: religion, morality, happiness, love, life and death, and freedom.

  • 0321277635The Art of Being Human, 8/E
    Janaro & Altshuler
    © 2006 | Longman | Paper; 704 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0321277635 | ISBN-13: 9780321277633
    Brief Description

    • The Art of Being Human, Seventh Edition, introduces students to the ways in which the humanities can broaden their perspective, enhance their ability to think clearly and objectively, and enrich their lives.

    This well-respected text has been lauded for its scope of topics, its accessible level, and its writing style. Chapter topics include genres of myth, literature, art, music, television, cinema, and the theater. The book also discusses provocative issues in the humanities—religion, morality, happiness, death, controversies in the arts, and freedom.

  • 032109316XThe Art of Being Human, 7/E
    Janaro & Altshuler
    © 2003 | Longman | Paper; 656 pages | Out of Stock
    ISBN-10: 032109316X | ISBN-13: 9780321093165
    Brief Description

    • The Art of Being Human, 6/e, introduces students to the ways in which the humanities can broaden their perspective, enhance their ability to think clearly and objectively, and enrich their lives. This well-respected text has been lauded for its scope of topics, its accessible level, and its writing style. Chapter topics include not only the usual genres-art, music, literature, cinema, and philosophy-but also myth, love, happiness, death attitudes and life affirmation, and nature.

  • 0801331552Art of Being Human, The: Humanities for the 21st Century, 6/E
    Janaro & Altshuler
    © 2000 | Longman | Paper; 700 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0801331552 | ISBN-13: 9780801331558
    Brief Description

The Art of Being Human:
The Humanities as a Technique for Living
Ninth Edition

Richard Paul Janaro and Thelma C. Altshuler

There is an Art to Being Human.

The Art of Being Human, Ninth Edition, introduces you to the ways in which the humanities can broaden your perspective, help you think creatively and critically, and enhance your life every single day. Praised for its unique topical organization and captivating writing style, this book provides an exceptional balance between coverage of traditional masterpieces and examples from today’s global culture. The Art of Being Human, Ninth Edition, will help you move beyond a mere appreciation of the arts and truly embrace “the humanities as a technique for living.”

Why You Need This Book!

  • A new chapter on critical thinking will help you develop the skills you need to understand, evaluate, and appreciate the arts, and to understand the importance of the arts in the context of daily life.
  • Updated examples throughout provide more coverage of contemporary works than any other text available, offering a bridge between the arts of today and the great works of the past.
  • Over 60 new visuals offer images not only of well-known classics, but also of forgotten masterpieces and the work of emerging artists.
  • An extended discussion of architecture ties this important art to the other humanities.
  • And as always, The Art of Being Human includes a wealth of examples by non-Western, minority, and women artists–and demonstrates the worldwide reach and universal appeal of the arts.

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