Rollapalooza/COTKU
Tossups
1. He devised a syllable system consisting of modified Roman letters and Hindu numerals. For instance, a looped W sounds “ya,” the number 4 sounds “se,” and a flowery V sounds “quo.” He was an blacksmith in early 19th-century Arkansas. Dealings with literate business people and politicians convinced him of the power of the written word. His early success with a self -invented accounting notation inspired him to devise a writing system for his people’s language. FTP, name this Cherokee who single-handedly taught his people to read and write.
Answer: Sequoyah (accept: George Guess)
2. Until the original copyright expires in 2010, royalties must be paid to the publisher for public performance of this song. Written in the key of F major, it was first published in 1893 as “Good Morning to All.” When the lyrics were changed and the song was republished in 1935, it has become one of the most frequently performed songs of all time, heard by over 70% of Americans at least once a year. FTP, name this song penned by Mildred and Patty Hill, which is usually followed by someone blowing out candles on a cake.
Answer: Happy Birthday to You
3. He was the god of vegetation until he died at the hands of his brother. Because his sister Nephtys did not have a child, he pitied her and agreed to sleep with her. In the 2001 movie The Mummy Returns, his spear is used to kill the Scorpion King. Brother of Set and Nephtys-FTP-who was this Egyptian god of the dead, father of Horus the Younger and husband of Isis?
Answer: Osiris
4. In the 1931 book, Monetary Equilibrium, he made a distinction between ex ante (planned) and ex post (realized) savings and investment. For three years, he conducted research on the social and economics problems of African-Americans. He presented his findings and his theory of cumulative causation-that poverty breeds poverty-in An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy. A major theorist of international relations, he specialized in policies in developing third-world nations. A member of the Stockholm school of economics-FTP-identify this Swedish economist and sociologist, awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1974 along with Friedrich Hayek.
Answer: Gunnar Myrdal
5. His early works contain bold fantasy, merciless invective, and lewd humor, as played out in considerable parts by the mime, chorus, and burlesque. His early works also contain violent satire that ridiculed the democratic war leaders. Later, he satirized contemporary issues such as the new learning of Socrates and the power of women. Known for the use of wit and puns, he often used prominent choruses in his plays, which actually became their titles: The Wasps, The Birds, and The Frogs. With only 11 of his 40 plays surviving-FTP-who was this Greek comedic playwright of The Clouds and Lysistrata?
Answer: Aristophanes
6. Methods used to produce this art form include oil, tempera, and encaustic painting. Artists who have painted them include Cimabue, Giotto, Masaccio, and Ghirlandaio. In 1949, José Clemente Orozco painted a series of them for the Palace of Government in Guadalajara. Diego Rivera also painted many of them, including one for the Rockefeller Center in New York, which was painted over because it portrayed Lenin. FTP, name these artworks, usually of fresco, which decorate vaults, ceilings, and-most importantly-walls.
Answer: murals
7. Strengthened by a pillar called linea aspera, this long and slender bone of the human body is attached to a ball-and-socket joint at the acetabulum. At either side of the lower end lie two large things called condyles. Internally, it shows the development of bone arcs called trabeculae, which are efficiently arranged to transmit pressure and resist stress up to 2,500 pounds. This bone contains a prominence that provides attachment for the gluteus medius and minimus muscles. FTP, identify this bone, also known as thighbone.
Answer: femur (prompt on “thighbone” before mentioned)
8. She is associated with a water-flowing vase and willow branches, which signify her passage toward Enlightenment. This influential deity has had several incarnations and is known by several names, including Ancient Buddha of the South Sea. In her most noted incarnation, she was the third princess of her kingdom, but she gave up a life of luxury in search of Enlightenment. She met her divine master at age 16 and passed away at age 19, yet she is frequently depicted carrying a child in her arms. She is the “Buddha of Compassion,” often depicted as sitting on a lotus flower. Worshipped by millions of families in Southeast Asia and around the world-FTP-name this Bodhisattva.
Answer: Kwan-Yin Bodhisattva (accept “Gwan-Shi-Yin Pusah,” but prompt on “Buddha of Compassion”)
9. It revolves around the Sun in 4.6 terrestrial years and has a diameter estimated at about 440 miles. It was first discovered on January 1, 1801 at the Palermo Observatory by Giuseppe Piazzi. After Piazzi’s observations ended, Franz von Zach continued observing this asteroid, using orbit calculations by Carl Friedrich Gauss. It was the largest known asteroid in the solar system and the first to be discovered. FTP, name this asteroid, named after the Roman goddess of agriculture.
Answer: Ceres
10. This literary term was coined in the 1940s by Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. While some scholars believe it has existed in many cultures for ages, others believe it began in the wake of postcolonial literature, which must make sense of both the reality of the conquerors and the reality of the conquered. It can be seen in such novels as Aura and Love in the Time of Cholera. Writers who write in this style include Jorge Amado, Carlos Fuentes, and Isabel Allende. FTP, name this chiefly Latin-American narrative strategy, characterized by the matter-of-fact inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction.
Answer: magic realism
11. A boa once “swallowed” this island after being accidentally introduced there, endangering the local animal species. Liberation Day came on July 21, 1944, to this home of the Chamorro people, whose words of greeting are “Hafa Adai!” The Spanish maintained control of this Micronesian island for 333 years, but ceded it to the United States following the 1898 Spanish American War. The largest island in the Marianas, FTP, name this American territory in the Pacific with the capital at Hagatna [uh-GA-nya].
Answer: Guam (accept Guahan)
12. Growing up, he loved hockey, basketball, and surfing, but he would become a professional player in another sport. After graduating from Carlsbad High School, he attended UC Irvine for three years before transferring to Arizona State. Aside from appearing in an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, he also plays tennis at Pam Shriver’s fundraiser for children in need. This baseball player is the number-two all-time leader in leadoff homeruns behind Rickey Henderson. In 2000, he batted .288 with 18 homeruns, which is a far cry from a mammoth 50 that he hit in 1996. He also once had the most unsightly sideburns in baseball. FTP, name this left-handed outfielder of the Baltimore Orioles.
Answer: Brady Anderson
13. In addition to positing the name for the element iodine, this scientist proved that prussic acid contained only hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen-but not oxygen, as it was previously thought. His research into the thermal expansion of gases made it possible for Lord Kelvin to devise a new temperature scale. In 1804, he and Jean-Baptiste Biot studied the variation of the Earth’s magnetic intensity by riding in a hydrogen-filled balloon to a height of 13,000 feet. One of the founders of modern meteorology-FTP-who was this French scientist, most famous for his eponymous law of combining volumes?
Answer: Joseph-Louis Guy-Lussac (accept : Gay-Lussac)
14. He rarely wrote outside his primary instrument, but he did compose a cello sonata late in his short life. He wrote in several traditional forms, including a barcarolle, a berceuse, a fantasie, and 2 concertos. However, he also expanded the usual genres by writing 4 ballades, 4 scherzos, 3 sonatas, 4 impromptus, and lots of preludes, waltzes, études, and nocturnes. FTP, name this Romantic composer, whose heroic nationalistic dances of mazurkas and polonaises paid tribute to his native Poland.
Answer: Frédérick Chopin
15. This city lies at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, 40 miles south-southwest of a large lake with the same name. Its name is derived from Cree Indian words for “muddy water.” It has been home to Fort Rouge, Fort Gibraltar, Fort Garry, and the Red River Settlement of Scottish colonists. Hometown of the “Guess Who”-FTP-what is this Canadian city, formerly the home of the Jets and capital of Manitoba?
Answer: Winnipeg
16. This play has such a complicated premise, The Norton Anthology of English Literature added a preface just to explain what is going on before the play begins! Sir Wilfull Witwoud is the half-brother of Witwoud and nephew of Lady Wishfort. Lady Wishfort despises Mirabell because he had falsely pretended to love her. Mirabell, a “reformed rake,” is in love with Mrs. Millamant. And then there is Lady Wishfort’s daughter, who is married to Fainall, who used to be friends with Mirabell and is in love with Marwood, who actually prefers Mirabell over Fainall. Confused? FTP, name this gleefully vicious Restoration comedy of manners, the masterful final work of William Congreve.
Answer: The Way of the World
17. It originally consisted of a narrow strip of alluvial soil on each side of the river Tigris. This ancient kingdom was once ruled by a man who defeated the Egyptians at Eltekeh in 701 BCE and fought both the Chaldeans and the Elamites at Halulina in 691 BCE. Earlier, this kingdom was led by a man who subdued the Babylonians, destroyed Samaria, and defeated a coalition of enemies at Raphia in 720. Known to have adopted the Sumerian cuneiform script-FTP-name this ancient kingdom with capital at Ninevah, ruled by Sennacherib and Sargon.
Answer: Assyria
18. The Vince Guaraldi Trio provided the music for this Emmy and Peabody Award-winning special, originally broadcast on the night of December 9, 1965. When its title character asks about the true meaning of its title holiday, a spotlight turns onto his best friend who reads a passage from Saint Luke. FTP, name this first animated special starring the characters of Charles M. Schulz.
Answer: A Charlie Brown Christmas
19. This speech contains the quote, “Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was ‘civis Romanus sum.’ Today, in the world of freedom, what is this proudest boast?” In it, the speaker advised that anyone who failed to “understand the great issue between the free world and the Communist world” should come to the city where this speech was given. The speech is called “Remarks in the Ruldoph Wilde Platz,” but it is better remembered by its last four words. FTP, what was this speech delivered by President John F. Kennedy in West Berlin on June 26, 1963?
Answer: “Ich bin ein Berliner” (prompt on “Remarks in the Rudolph Wilde Platz” before mentioned)
20. The first half of this poem has a theme of ascent, as “the frail, illegal fire balloons” float toward “the kite sticks of the Southern Cross.” The second half of the poem has the theme of descent, as “another big one fell,” which starts a forest fire. Animals then dash out of the thickets, including an owl, a baby rabbit, and the title animal-described as “rose-flecked, head down, tail down.” This poem was dedicated to Robert Lowell, who replied with the poem “Skunk Hour.” FTP, name this 1957 poem concerning artifice, set in Rio de Janerio and written by Elizabeth Bishop.
Answer: The Armadillo
21. He turned to Plato’s distinction in the Sophist between icastic and fantastic imitation. In his two defenses of Dante, this philosopher tackled such issues as the differences between Plato and Aristotle, the “credible impossible” and the “incredible possible,” and truth and falsehood in poetry. His 1587 defense might have been written by Tuccio del Corno. His more authenticated 1572 defense is titled Discorso in difeso della Commedia del divino poeta Dante. FTP, name this 16th-century Italian philosopher, best known for investigating the notion of the “idol.”
Answer: Jacopo Mazzoni
22. He was succeeded circa 1223 BCE by Merneptah after a reign of about 57 years, during which he fought an inconclusive war against the Hittites, and engaged in a building campaign, beautifying Thebes and covering his country with statues of himself. FTP, name this 19th dynasty monarch who is often portrayed as the Pharaoh of the Oppression.
Answer: Rameses II or Rameses the Great (Note: Rameses = Ramses)
23. Intended by the penal code to be administered impartially, its services most often fell upon poor minorities and political dissidents. It was built to serve an egalitarian revolution, but it instead saw its greatest use under the Nazis. This device backfired in all the objectives promoted by its creator, a namesake French doctor. Conceived to replace brutal, degrading public executions with private, dignified death, it instead became the centerpiece of mass executions celebrated by bloodthirsty mobs. Designed to eliminate suffering, its victims often lived momentarily beyond their decapitation. FTP, name this innovation of the French Revolution which killed with an oblique falling blade.
Answer: guillotine
24. In her 1981 essay, “Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness,” she showed doubts about a “playful pluralism” and posed questions about how to “rescue the feminine form its stereotypical associations with inferiority.” In her seminal 1977 work, she coined the term “gynocritics” for female biographical criticism and labeled female readership as “feminist critique.” Her ultimate goal is to separate feminist literary criticism from a history of male-dominant theory and terminology. FTP, name this foremost feminist critic of the modern era, the author of A Literature of Their Own: British Women Novelists from Brontë to Lessing.