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Q: How are zoos an example of classifying and categorizing of animals today? What role might culture have in their approach to education and entertainment of their videos? Or in the kinds of animals they have? How might zoos reinforce ideas of charismatic megafauna? Provide examples to support your answers. A: Zoos classify and categorize animals in the literal sense of often having like animals grouped together in close proximity; e.g. a reptile house, an aviary, a section for insects, etc. However, they also categorize them by popularity to some extent. The factor of “charismatic megafauna” comes into play in choosing which animals to keep, and where to house them. But it isn’t fair to say that zoos only house those animals we love to see. Zoos do work to be educational about the intrinsic value of every animal they display – plaques and videos will try to convert you to the merits of scorpions – but most of the visitors probably didn’t come for the scorpions. And zoos know this.

Q: Prompt: How are animals biologically classified? What are the categories? How were animals classified by Aristotle? How is the medieval bestiary or the Physiologus an example of a sociozoologic scale?   A: The system for biological classification created by Linnaeus in 1735 was a way of grouping animals together based on observed physical traits. Groupings were formed based on things like the way an animal was constructed (e.g. vertebrates/invertebrates), reproduction was accomplished (e.g. mammals/various non-mammals), or what it ate (e.g. carnivore/herbivore). The categories are: phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, species.   Aristotle believed strongly that all animals, and all other life for that matter, were inferior to humans. He constructed a “scala naturae” or “Great Chain of Being” which was a hierarchical invention of fixed categories; placing human beings at the pinnacle of his ever ‘ascending’ scale, which started with insects. His opinion became the autho

Based on this week's reading, describe three ways in which Jesus acted in the expected role of a rabbi.   Three ways Jesus fit the bill as a rabbi would include the following: 1)     Jesus was called a rabbi in his lifetime, and his reported actions fit the definition. As the book points out on page 354 Jesus had the title applied to him in much of the early texts, and the use of the title was left in the texts post-Easter. The fact the text was not altered to say that Jesus had always been referred to as the Messiah or Christ indicates the probable accuracy of the use of the rabbi title within his lifetime. Also, a rabbi is defined on page 355 as being the Aramaic word for teacher. Regardless of what one believes about the divinity of Jesus, the historical life of the man is certainly focused on teaching. The entire ethic of the historical man was traveling and talking to people about life and a promised afterlife, and how to have a better one of both. And despite the fact th

Words I had to use: apparatus, listen, eye, son, drunk, women. Words I didn't have to use (but did): in.

This came from a NYT piece found HERE , by Michelle Goldberg .

Q: Pets and/or service animals: If you grew up with pets and/or service animals, how many and what kinds did you have?   A: I think we had almost every animal when I was growing up. We had a black lab named “Ed” when I was a baby, which I only know from photos of the two of us sitting on a sofa and sharing some ‘Nilla Wafers. Within my own memory we have had dogs, dogs, and more dogs; a giant fish tank; a rabbit named Peter, a parakeet I named Tweety that flew into the backyard with a numbered leg band and wasn’t afraid of people so we kept him; a guinea pig called Nellie I got as a 4H project; cats; more fish; more dogs, and feeding lots of feral cats – one of which will now let me pet it (while it eats).   Q: What was the role of pets in your household?   A: They were ubiquitous, but mostly separate. My grandparent’s generation felt that most pets, but especially dogs and cats, were ‘outside animals’. Actually, it was more my grandfathers, than grandmothers. One of my gra

Discussion Questions: Based on the reading and film, discuss examples of the layers of experience and interpretation that stand between the historical Jesus and the written sources on his life that we have access to.  None of canonical Gospels claims to be a diary written as events happened, and none even claims to have been written down by direct eyewitnesses.  They and the other sources we have appear to be at the receiving end of orally transmitted reports passed down over time.  What do you think were the major influences that may have shaped reports about Jesus as they were passed from person to person orally?  What expectations and experiences did the people have that might have shaped how stories about Jesus were told, or how certain things he taught were emphasized over others?  How serious do you think the challenge is to recover historical facts about Jesus t hrough these layers of interpretation? Answer: Upon reading the question, “What do you think were the major influen