DSST Humanities 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which literary device involves giving human characteristics to non-human entities?
- Alliteration
- Personification (Correct answer)
- Hyperbole
- Synecdoche
Correct answer: Personification
Personification attributes human qualities to animals, objects, or abstract concepts.
Question 2: The Baroque period in music is primarily associated with which centuries?
- 14th and 15th centuries
- 16th and 17th centuries
- 17th and 18th centuries (Correct answer)
- 19th and 20th centuries
Correct answer: 17th and 18th centuries
The Baroque era in music spanned roughly 1600–1750, covering the 17th and early 18th centuries.
Question 3: Which Renaissance artist painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling?
- Raphael
- Donatello
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Michelangelo (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Michelangelo
Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512.
Question 4: In Greek tragedy, the term 'catharsis' refers to:
- A reversal of fortune for the hero
- The emotional purging experienced by the audience (Correct answer)
- The fatal flaw of the protagonist
- The resolution of the plot
Correct answer: The emotional purging experienced by the audience
Aristotle defined catharsis as the purification or purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—in the audience.
Question 5: Which philosophical school held that virtue is the only true good and advocated living according to nature?
- Epicureanism
- Skepticism
- Stoicism (Correct answer)
- Cynicism
Correct answer: Stoicism
Stoicism, founded by Zeno of Citium, taught that virtue and reason are the highest goods and that one should live in harmony with nature.
Question 6: The novel form that presents a story through letters exchanged between characters is called:
- Picaresque
- Gothic
- Epistolary (Correct answer)
- Bildungsroman
Correct answer: Epistolary
An epistolary novel tells its story through documents such as letters, diary entries, or newspaper clippings.
Question 7: Which architectural feature is most characteristic of Gothic cathedrals?
- Rounded arches and thick walls
- Flying buttresses and pointed arches (Correct answer)
- Flat roofs and open colonnades
- Domes and pendentives
Correct answer: Flying buttresses and pointed arches
Gothic architecture is defined by pointed arches, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses that allowed taller, lighter structures.
DSST Humanities 2
Which literary device involves giving human characteristics to non-human entities?