Great Derangement: Part 1 Quiz

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Questions and Answers

What specific geographical area is mentioned as being threatened by global warming?

The Sundarbans

According to the author, what is one of the primary reasons that climate change is not a popular subject matter in literary fiction?

It's often relegated to the genre of science fiction.

What is the author's opinion of literary seriousness that does not consider climate change?

It is confounding.

What does the author suggest is the relationship between literary forms and carbon accumulation?

Literary forms developed during the period of carbon accumulation. Signup and view all the answers

Name one specific type of publication where the author notes that climate change is rarely seen in literary works.

Book reviews. Signup and view all the answers

What does the author note about the way climate change is typically presented in the publications that he mentions?

It is usually in relation to non-fiction. Signup and view all the answers

What personal experience led the author to recognize the wider implications of climate change challenges?

Challenges he faced while writing 'The Hungry Tide'. Signup and view all the answers

When did the author realize that challenges he faced while writing his novel had wider implications?

When the accelerating impacts of global warming began to threaten the Sundarbans. Signup and view all the answers

What instinct did people in L'Aquila follow during the early tremors before the 2009 earthquake?

They moved to open spaces. Signup and view all the answers

Why did many people in L'Aquila return to their homes before the major earthquake?

A governmental intervention to prevent panic led them back. Signup and view all the answers

What belief did people in New York have about hurricanes during Sandy, according to Sobel?

They believed hurricanes were something that happened in faraway places. Signup and view all the answers

What are the two main sources of the challenge posed by the Anthropocene regarding climate change?

The complexities of technical language and the practices and assumptions that guide the arts and humanities. Signup and view all the answers

Why did many people in Brazil fail to take shelter when Hurricane Catarina struck?

They refused to believe that hurricanes were possible in Brazil. Signup and view all the answers

What does the author believe is the most important question facing contemporary culture?

How contemporary culture can deal with climate change. Signup and view all the answers

What has global warming made 'unpredictable' in the context of weather events?

The high degree of improbability of weather events. Signup and view all the answers

How does the text describe the relationship between poetry and climatic events?

Poetry has a long had an intimate relationship with climatic events. Signup and view all the answers

Beyond technology, what is one of the major factors driving the carbon economy, according to the text?

The desires generated by culture. Signup and view all the answers

What work did John Milton begin composing during a winter of extreme cold, as mentioned in the text?

Paradise Lost Signup and view all the answers

According to the passage, what is the significance of a speedy convertible beyond just its mechanics?

It evokes images of freedom, adventure, and cultural icons. Signup and view all the answers

The text mentions a connection between tropical island imagery and the word 'paradise.' What literary figures does the text link to the origins of this kind of longing?

Daniel Defoe and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Signup and view all the answers

In the text, what is the difference in how literary novels and poetry treat the weather?

Literary novels tends to be prosaic, while poetry tends to embrace extreme weather events. Signup and view all the answers

What cultural practice does the text use as an example of a yearning possibly midwifed by Jane Austen's novels?

The practice of maintaining a green lawn (in places where water is scarce) . Signup and view all the answers

In what context does the author mention Dipesh Chakrabarty's essay?

To show that historians are revisiting their assumptions due to climate change. Signup and view all the answers

What does the author mean by ‘humans have become geological agents’?

Humans are changing the basic physical processes of the Earth. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Great Derangement: Part 1: Stories

Something inanimate can appear alive, like a carpet pattern resembling a dog's tail, which could lead to a tripped ankle. Similarly, harmless-looking things can be dangerous, such as a vine that is a worm or a snake, or a harmless log which is a crocodile.
The scene in The Empire Strikes Back exemplifies this. Han Solo lands the Millennium Falcon on what he believes is an asteroid, however he finds himself in the gullet of a sleeping space monster.
The assumption that planets and asteroids are inert is incorrect in a larger historical context, which the scene reveals.
A significant number of people believed planets and asteroids to be inert only in a relatively short time frame (less than three centuries historically).
The understanding of interplanetary objects will evolve significantly in the future, and assumptions made today will be incorrect.

Ecological Refugees

Ancestors of the author were ecological refugees who migrated from Bangladesh to Bihar, India in the mid-1800s, due to the Padma River changing course and drowning their village.
The author heard this story from their father during a family trip on the same river in a steamboat.
The author reflects on the elemental forces that uprooted their ancestors, triggering journeys and migrations which impacted their family's history directly.
These events shaped their family life, creating a series of journeys that preceded the author's own travels.
The river stands as a symbol of the forces that shaped their family history and heritage.

Recognition and Knowledge

Recognition is a process of moving from ignorance to knowledge.
It does not require the exchange of words, often occurring silently.
Recognition involves a renewed understanding of something previously known or understood.
It is often triggered by sudden, impactful events such as a river rising, floods and storms, which forces awareness into action.

Recognition and Disclosures

The moment of recognition is characterized by the flashing of a prior awareness, which brings about an immediate, but silent change in our understanding of a situation.
Recognition does not arise spontaneously, but rather requires a prior awareness or existence of a previous knowledge in order to connect to the present awareness.
This prior, hidden awareness is crucial to the process of recognition.
Recognition occurs when we grasp or realize a previously known potential within ourselves.

Recognition and Energy

Recognition is not simply about encountering something new but about understanding the pervasive presence of energy and power, which interconnects everything within and without ourselves.
The concept can also apply to non-human beings, such as an environmental event or disaster.
Recognition occurs when we realize the energy that surrounds us—which is both inside (and potentially disruptive) and outside ourselves.

The Climate of Recognition

Climate change poses unique challenges for contemporary writers.
It is a difficult issue to convey from the perspective of serious fiction.
The challenges are not just about a lack of information but rather result from the prevailing narrative structures that are not currently suited to addressing this complex issue.
The way literary fiction typically represents the events of the world, in contrast to science writing, often fails to encompass the full severity of the present era's climate crisis.

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Description

Test your understanding of key themes presented in Part 1 of 'Great Derangement.' Explore the intersection of perception and reality in our understanding of nature and the cosmos, as illustrated through vivid examples and cultural references. Assess how these ideas reflect our assumptions about the environment and its hazards.