Sprey                                     

 

HST 132 (082)

 

Questions to consider when reading and to answer for William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples:  Introduction and Chapter 1:

 

  1. Define “microparasite”.

 

 

  1. Define “macroparasite”.

 

 

  1. What is the state purpose of the book?  Find the thesis statement.

 

 

  1. What makes a parasite or a disease “successful”?

 

 

  1. How do Plasmodium falciparum and other forms of malaria find new hosts?

 

 

  1. Can humankind at the time period discussed in the book be considered an “acute epidemic disease”? If yes, why and how?  If no, why and how?

 

  1. How did parasites keep the human population within a safe boundary – a certain size or level that could be sustained by available resources?  Give examples of how this was achieved.

 

  1. Once humankind had spread to the major land masses of the globe and had become the dominant predator he was faced with two severe crises.  What were they and how did man deal with them?

 

 

Sprey                                     

 

HST 132 (082)

 

Questions to consider while reading and to answer for William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples:  Chapter 2

 

  1. What served as the chief stimulus for humans to begin to form political organizations?

 

  1. Two methods were effective in aiding man in drastically altering his environment.  Name these and explain how they helped humanity in conquering his surroundings.

 

  1. Once man had begun to alter the landscape of his area he opened and kept open the door for hyperinfestation of a few weeds and of parasites, micro-predators.  Give a short explanation of this phenomenon.

 

  1. Microparasites often left their hosts (or victims) weak.  Did this ever work to the advantage of the macroparasites – namely man?  Give an example.

 

  1. Why were new recruits in armies (such as the French army) who came from the countryside primarily more susceptible to civilized diseases than were their city-dwelling counterparts?

 

  1. Name some ways in which a stable demographic balance was maintained.  (Give mirco- and macroparasitic examples.)

 

  1. What role did civilized diseases play in the acquisition of new lands from other peoples?

Sprey                                     

 

HST 132 (082)

 

Questions to consider while reading and to answer for William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples:  Chapter 3

 

  1. What were the dangers southern China presented to its new settlers?

 

 

  1. Compare and contrast the roles that the Buddha and Confucius played in their respective cultures.

 

  1. What part did microparasitic infection play in the eventual fall of Athens as an imperial city?

 

  1. How did the diseases of the early centuries A.D. affect the Church and the views people held of it?

 

  1. What influence did the increase in trade and travel have on the microparasites who had previously been limited?

 

  1. Was the reaction of Europe and China during the first century A.D. similar to that of the Amerindians?  If so, explain the comparison.

 

  1. What are the parallels between Rome and Chinese history in connection with disease.

 

  1. What are some of the similarities (patterns) between Buddhism and Christianity, especially during the early centuries A.D.?

 

Sprey

HST 132: World Civilizations II

 

William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, chapter 4

 

  1. How did the northward expansion of the caravan routes alter the movement of diseases in Eurasia?

 

 

  1. McNeill says that he believes that Mongol movements across isolated areas brought Pasteruella pestis to the rodents of the Eurasian steppe.  What evidence does he give?

 

  1. How was the steamship responsible for spreading the plague?  Was its function similar to that of the Mongol horsemen?

 

  1. What three conditions had to exist before the plague of 1346 could begin?

 

  1. Before the plague arrived in Italy depopulation had already begun.  Why is that?

 

  1. How did the Great Fire of London (1665) help to drive out the plague?

 

  1. How did increases in man-made textiles change the disease patterns of Hansen’s Disease, yaws, and typhus?

 

Sprey

HST 132: World Civilizations II

 

William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, chapter 5

 

  1. Population grew wherever the New World crops were planted.  Explain this and why these crops had an advantage over the crops of the Old World.

 

  1. Explain why the New World was relatively free of the diseases that Europe and Africa seem to have always known.

 

  1. Why is it that the more diseased a community is, the less destructive its epidemics become?

 

  1. What were the major transoceanic disease exchanges that McNeill discusses in this chapter?

 

Sprey

HST 132: World Civilizations II

 

William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, chapter 6

 

  1. Why were the physicians of the West more open to innovation than their counterparts in the Orient?

 

  1. How did inoculations come into being to fight diseases?

 

  1. Microparasites have used modern means of transportation to spread over the entire globe.  What does this mean to the delicate balance between micro- and macroparasites?

 

  1. When and why did towns and cities begin sanitary reforms and practices?

 

  1. Discuss the rival theories of miasma and contagion of diseases and the advances in public health that each theory propagated.