Duiker Chapter 2 Guided Reading Questions
Directions: To truly understand the information you will be reading this year, it is important for you to be actively
involved with the material. In the beginning of the year, to help you with this process, we will be providing you with
guiding questions to help you organize the textbook information. As you read the textbook, answer these guiding
questions in your own words and in complete sentences. While this may slow down the speed at which you read, this
method will help you to connect with the material and to retain the information. You are required to answer these
questions on Vision for credit, BUT you will ALSO want to bring in the typed copy of YOUR responses to these
questions on the date of the Socratic Seminar (Sept. 15/16). To answer the questions effectively by the due date, you
SHOULD read approximately 15 pages a day to complete this assignment (NOT 15 pages per class period, but 15
pages per CALENDAR day!).
Example: How is Jainism different from Buddhism? How are they similar?
Buddhist belief is in the “middle way” meaning to experience pleasure and suffering or pain in moderation whereas
Jain beliefs incorporated aesthetic practice (fasting, a life of extreme simplicity, a life of poverty, etc.). Both rejected
the reality of the material world and both preached non-violence, although some Jains took that to an extreme as
well.
1. What evidence have archaeologists found that suggest the Harrapan civilization was as sophisticated and
advanced as those of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Include in your answer at least 3 different pieces of evidence.
What makes studying the history of the Harrapan civilization more difficult than the study of Mesopotamian and
Egyptian history from the same period of time?
2. Using the Comparative Essay section found on page 41, explain the many uses of writing systems. Compare the
writing systems of Mesopotamia and Egypt to current systems of writing today. What are the similarities and
differences of ancient and modern-day writing systems? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both
ancient and modern-day writing systems?
3. Compare the views on kingship of the Aryans with that of the ancient Egyptians (see Chapter 1). How were these
views similar and how were they different. Use specific evidence/citations from the primary sources, “Hymn to
the Pharaoh” (page 18) and “The Mahabharata” (page 43) to help describe these similarities and/or differences.
4. Demonstrate how the geographic diversity of India (HINT: geographic features like mountains, rivers, etc.) might
have led to the (somewhat) de-centralized nature of the government of the early Mauryan Empire.
5. Identify and describe the different varnas in the social system of the Mauryan Empire. Was social mobility up or
down the varna system common? Why or why not? What is the difference between a varna and a jati? What is
similar?
6. Describe gender relations in India during this time period. What was the role of a woman and what was her status
in Indian society?
7. Describe the Mauryan government’s role in the economy of India.
8. Discuss how the Brahman concepts of reincarnation, karma, and dharma relate to the social structure of India
during this time period.
9. Explain how Buddhism was both an extension of Brahman beliefs and, at the same time, a rejection of Brahman
beliefs.
10. Read the excerpt from the Ramayana (pg. 59, titled “Rama and Sita”). Answer the questions, also found at the
end of the passage: How does this story reflect some of the basic values of traditional Indian civilization? Why do
you think it was necessary for the story to have an unhappy ending, unlike Homer’s epic The Odyssey, which ends
with the return of the hero Odysseus to his wife, Penelope, after many arduous travels?