Discovering the Humanities

Discovering the Humanities does not only offer an excellent discussion of the humanities, but also helps students develop a deep appreciation for the subject by allowing them to see the big picture and how humanities affects daily life. Author Henry M. Sayre effectively presents compelling and important stories that tie in with the classical theories, believing that stories (instead of just memorization of facts) help in retention and learning. He discusses the prehistoric past and the river cultures of the ancient world and the beginnings of culture, the Greek world and the classical tradition, Rome and urban life and imperial majesty, the flowering of religion and the faith and the power of belief in the early first millennium, the early medieval world and fiefdom, monastery, and Romanesque periods, and the gothic and the rebirth of naturalism and the civic and religious life in an age of inquiry. The book covers the renaissance in Florence, Rome, and Venice, renaissance and reformation in the north, the age of encounter in West Africa, the Americas, China, and Japan. It likewise discusses counter-reformation, the Baroque period, emotion inquiry, and absolute power, and the age of revolution (from Neoclassicism to Romanticism). A focus on the working class and the bourgeoisie plus the conditions of modern life, the modernist world and the arts in an age of global confrontation, and the decades of change and the plural self in a global world are also offered. Discovering the Humanities (ISBN 9780205672301) provides a wealth of readings, from the works of Sappho to the modern Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. Henry M. Sayre has created a balance of narratives and interesting classical and modern readings. This textbook is widely available from rentals and shops and is widely recommended for introductory humanity courses.