1
What is there about American society that makes baseball America's "national pastime"?
2
The actor John Gielgud believed that of all Shakespeare's characters Hamlet is probably the one most like Shakespeare himself–since, of all Shakespeare's characters, only Hamlet can be imagined to have written all the Shakespearean plays. How good an understanding of Hamlet's character does Gielgud's belief reflect?
3
Is it true that the U.S. needs to eliminate its national debt?
4
The question of altruism:
Can a person be motivated by desires that are not–ultimately–selfish?
5
Various impairments of the mind are commonly associated with old age. To what extent are these biological in origin? To what extent, social in origin?
6
Why does nodding of the head signify Yes and shaking of the head No?
7
Why does music written in a minor key sound "sad" or "downbeat," while music in a major key sounds "happy" or "upbeat"?
8
Discuss the belief that great literature of the twentieth century lacks protagonists who qualify as heroes. (Among the works you discuss, include at least two by the following authors: Anton Chekhov, Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Amy Tan, Chinua Achebe.)
9
Your summer vacation–what was it really like?
