The author of the 1962 book Theatre of the Absurd, in which the name of the type of plays coined was ____.

Choose one of the following prompts and write a 250-300 word discussion in response to it. Be sure that you make specific references to texts and/or use specific names and details where appropriate to support your argument. Many parallels can be drawn between the characters of Hedda Gabler and Medea. Both are strong women who have the power to control other people in various ways. At the same time both of these women are seemingly placed into situations in which they feel a degree of powerlessness. Compare and/or contrast the ways that they deal with this powerlessness. Compare and/or contrast the ways that they deal with this powerlessness and ways that stye use their own power to exert control. Choose one of the following major movements in the history of theater and discuss the major defining characteristics of that era or movement. Be sure to make use of at least one play/playwright to illustrate and serve to exemplify theater during that era/movement. (Theater of the Absurd, the Age of Reason/Neoclassicism, the Golden Age of Greek/Athenian drama.)

In 1492, Columbus crossed the Atlantic to seek a new overseas route to _?_ on behalf of the Kingdom of Spain: A) America B) Asia C) Austrailia D) Africa 

The Protestant Reformation unleashed sectarian violence across Europe by the 1550s, which ultimately led to the Thirty Years War in 1618. Where did the war begin? A) Spain B) England C) Germany D) Italy 

Which of the following was a plant native only to Europe and the Middle East, before 1492?A) Coffee B) Corn C) Tomatoes D) Vanilla 

 Before the Medieval era, the European empires of Greece and _?_ were the sources of works in philosophy, literature, and the sciences, later rediscovered during the Renaissance. A) Egypt B) Baghdad C) Rome D) Persia  

Victory in the Hundred-Years’ War was key to the unification of _?_ in the 15th century. A) Spain B) France C) England D) Italy

Expansion of the Ottoman Empire across _?_ brought with it, the practice of Islam. A) Persia  B) North Africa  C) Central Africa  D) Indonesia   

Choose an option from the Essay section of your Study Guide, and compose a response here.  Answer your choice with at least two well-developed paragraphs. Each paragraph should consist of about 4-6 sentences.   How did the emergence of Islam change the history of the Middle East, between the 7th and 8th centuries? What were the central aspects of the faith that made it so popular? What reasons (or leaders) could be cited for the rapid advance of Islam throughout Eurasia and Africa during the Medieval Period? How did conflicts between European Christendom and the Caliphates arise, leading to the Crusades and the Reconquista? What kinds of economic and intellectual legacies did the rise of Medieval Islam have to the world at large, between 700 and 1200 CE? Be sure to cite specific persons, places, or events in your answer. Examine how European nation-states like England, France, and Spain, began to develop as the Medieval Period ended. How did Kings consolidate their power and gain more control over the nobility? As these nations unified, were kings able to keep absolute power over their kingdoms? Why or why not? What traces of this late-Medieval process do we still see in our world, all around us today? Be sure to cite specific persons, places, or events in your answer. In a few paragraphs, explain how the social and economic changes the Crusades (1087-1291) and the Black Plague (1347-1351) caused, eventually propelled Europe to the Renaissance (1350-1600). How did the social and economic order of the Renaissance differ from that of the late Medieval Period? How did the rediscoveries of Mathematics, Science, and the Arts, help motivate European navigators like Columbus, to venture across the Atlantic from 1492 onward? Be sure to cite specific persons, places, or events in your answer. Why was Spain the first among European powers to conquer and colonize the New World? Were the factors surrounding the rise of Spain political, economic, religious, or scientific? What kind of economic system did Spain establish in its colonies? Was Spain able to maintain its superior status in the Americas into the 1600s? Why or why not? What became the overall Spanish legacy to the New World? Be sure to include relevant persons, places and events in your answer. Why were the leaders of the Protestant Reformation successful in breaking the centuries-old monopoly of Roman Catholicism? In your answer, name two Protestant leaders that influenced the direction of the movement, between 1517 and 1600. Were there differences of belief between Protestant leaders? If so, what were they? Was the Reformation to blame for the chaos of the Thirty Years’ War, or of the civil war in England? Be sure to support your answer with specific names and events.

The Dar al-Islam refers to:  A) the enemies of Islam  B) the values of Islam  C) the Islamic communities across the world  D) the Prophet Muhammad