Characterization in The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone – Flashcards

Which statement from The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone contains an opinion that could be considered biased if facts and examples had not been given to support it?

Young had learned to read before he was two, and by the age of twenty had mastered a dozen foreign languages including Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. An inheritance from an uncle left him free to pursue his scientific interests. At various times, Young studied the habits of spiders, the surface features of the moon, and diseases of the chest. Then, intrigued by the challenge of the Rosetta Stone, he put aside his other studies and concentrated on attempting to decipher the writing on it. Young had read of de Sacy's and Akerblad's work in Paris, and was determined to succeed where they had failed. Based on the details in the excerpt, James Cross Giblin's attitude toward Thomas Young i

Fortunately, the French had made a number of copies of the inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone. They did this by covering the surface of the Stone with printer's ink, laying a sheet of paper on it, and rolling rubber rollers over it until good, clear impressions were obtained. Based on the word choice in this excerpt, how does Giblin feel about the French attempt to understand the writings on the Rosetta Stone?

Based on The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, which statement best describes how James Cross Giblin characterizes the historical figure of Sylvestre de Sacy?

Young had learned to read before he was two, and by the age of twenty had mastered a dozen foreign languages including Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. An inheritance from an uncle left him free to pursue his scientific interests. At various times, Young studied the habits of spiders, the surface features of the moon, and diseases of the chest. Then, intrigued by the challenge of the Rosetta Stone, he put aside his other studies and concentrated on attempting to decipher the writing on it. Young had read of de Sacy's and Akerblad's work in Paris, and was determined to succeed where they had failed. The details in this excerpt hint that Giblin has a

Young, like de Sacy and Akerblad before him, decided their demotic equivalent must be a group of characters that occurred fourteen times. Which answer option best describes the sentence?

Based on The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone, which statement best describes how James Cross Giblin characterizes the historical figure of Johan Akerblad?

Because of this mistaken belief, Young put roadblocks in his own path. However, he had laid a solid groundwork for others in their attempts to decipher the hieroglyphs. Based on this excerpt, what is James Cross Giblin's attitude toward the achievements of Thomas Young?

Now Young made a leap of the imagination. It was like the inspired hunches that have led so many of the great advances in science and technology over the ages. Which best describes this excerpt?

hese were impressive achievements. But Akerblad's success in identifying so many demotic characters now led him to make a serious mistake. He became convinced that the demotic script was entirely alphabetic. From then on Akerblad, and other scholars like him, made no further progress in deciphering the demotic passage on the Stone. Based on this excerpt, James Cross Giblin believes Akerblad was overly

But Kircher's ideas about the hieroglyphs themselves were even farther off the mark than those of Horapollo. Looking at a certain group of symbols - which actually stood for the name of a pharaoh - Kircher let his imagination run wild. Without any evidence to support him, he said that the hieroglyphs meant "The blessings of the god Osiris are to be procured by means of sacred ceremonies, in order that the benefits of the river Nile may be obtained." From 1650 onward, Kircher produced several volumes of such nonsense. It earned him a reputation for being an expert on the hieroglyphs - a reputation that lasted, unfortunately, long after his death in 1680. Based on this passage, what is James Cross Giblin's attitude toward Kircher?

Which statement best describes how James Cross Giblin creates the characters in his book?

Young had learned to read before he was two, and by the age of twenty had mastered a dozen foreign languages including Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. An inheritance from an uncle left him free to pursue his scientific interests. At various times, Young studied the habits of spiders, the surface features of the moon, and diseases of the chest. Then, intrigued by the challenge of the Rosetta Stone, he put aside his other studies and concentrated on attempting to decipher the writing on it. Young had read of de Sacy's and Akerblad's work in Paris, and was determined to succeed where they had failed. What does each sentence from the passage show about Thomas Young?

Young made several mistakes. He thought the third hieroglyph was part of the one for "T," whereas it actually stood for the vowel "O." The fourth hieroglyph, the lion, meant just "L," the fifth meant "M," and the last hieroglyph stood simply for "S." In other words, the spelling in Egyptian was "Ptolmis," not "Ptolemaios." But Young got three out of the seven symbols right, which was a better score than any scholar before him had achieved. Based on the passage, what is James Cross Giblin's attitude toward Thomas Young?

Like countless other scholars over the centuries, Young still believed that most of the hieroglyphs must have a symbolic meaning. Only in special cases, such as foreign names, did he think that they were used to represent sounds. Because of this mistaken belief, Young put roadblocks in his own path. However, he had laid a solid groundwork for others in their attempts to decipher the hieroglyphs. And a young Frenchman, Jean-Francois Champollion, was ready to take up the challenge where Young had left off. Which statement is a clue that helps show the author's attitude toward Young?

Young made several mistakes. He thought the third hieroglyph was part of the one for "T," whereas it actually stood for the vowel "O." The fourth hieroglyph, the lion, meant just "L," the fifth meant "M," and the last hieroglyph stood simply for "S." In other words, the spelling in Egyptian was "Ptolmis," not "Ptolemaios." But Young got three out of the seven symbols right, which was a better score than any scholar before him had achieved. Young published his findings in an article written for the 1819 supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica. He continued to work on the problem of the hieroglyphs in the years that followed, but made little headway in deciphering additional names and words. Why? Largely because he was working under a false assumption. Like countless other scholars over the centuries, Young still believed that most of the hieroglyphs must have a symbolic meaning. Only in special cases, such as foreign names, did he think that they were used to represent sounds. Because of this mistaken belief, Young put roadblocks in his own path. However, he had laid a solid groundwork for others in their attempts to decipher the hieroglyphs. And a young Frenchman, Jean-Francois Champollion, was ready to take up the challenge where Young had left off. Based on the passage, write two or three sentences explaining how the author feels about Thomas Young. Support your answer with examples from the reading.

Based on what you have read, write one or two sentences explaining whether James Cross Giblin shows historical figures in a biased or unbiased way.