cultural literacy 30 Flashcards
La Traviata
opera by Verdi
“Hungarian Dances”
ethnically-themed composition by Brahms
The “Surprise” Symphony
emotional name for composition by Haydn
“Wedding March”
march by Mendelssohn
kumquat
small, orange-yellow Asian fruit
tarsal tunnel syndrome
nerve compression in ankle
two “David” sculptors
Donatello (hat and sword), Michelangelo (famous statue in contraposto)
Pedro Almodovar two movies
Spanish director of “The Skin I Live in” and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”
La Vie en Rose
biopic of Edith Piaf starring Marion Cotillard
Hobson’s choice
a non-choice (like “take it or leave it”, where leaving it is an unacceptable option)
caduceus
staff carried by Hermes (with two snakes), modern symbol of logistics
Rod of Asclepius
staff entwined by a single snake, modern symbol of medicine
Charles Addams
cartoonist who created the Addams family characters
trigger finger
disorder in which a finger becomes locked in flexed position, resembling a finger on a trigger
long-haul trucker
trucker whose journeys cover hundreds or even thousands of miles
Joseph Stilwell
U.S. general who served as Chief of Staff under Chiang Kai-Shek during Chinese Civil War
council areas
Scotland administrative divisions equivalent to counties in England
the Amerasia affair
criminal case in the 1940s in which employees at the foreign affairs journal Amerasia were indicted for possessing classfied documents
ambassador-at-large
an ambassador assigned to a group of countries or even an issue rather than an individual country
éminence grise
powerful advisor who operates behind the scenes or in an unofficial capacity
to beard
to confront an unpleasant adversary or situation
“Reds in Our Churches”
article by 1950s anti-communist crusader, in which he argued that the single biggest Communist threat in the U.S. came from Protestant clergymen
“Who Promoted Peress?”
slogan among investigators of Communism in the U.S. government in the 1950s, referring to an army dentist suspected of Communism whose promotion was viewed by McCarthy as special treatment by Communist-sympathizing higher-ups
black bag operation
covert or clandestine entries into structures to obtain information for human intelligence operations
“Upon what meat…”
“…doth this our Caesar feed/That he is grown so great?” (Cassius quote from Julius Caesar)
IPR
Institute of Pacific Relations, former NGO suspected of Communist infiltration in the 1950s
Reed Harris
director of the International Information Administration in the 1950s, accused of being a Communist by McCarthy
King Football
book by Reed Harris in which he criticized the influence of college football programs on American universities
Yates v. United States
a 1957 case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that the First Amendment protected radical and reactionary speech unless it posed a “clear and present danger”
“Red Monday”
nickname given by anti-Communists to the day on which the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Yates v. United States decision
SISS
Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, a Senate subcommitte run by Pat McCarran with a more specific mandate to investigate Communist infiltration of the government in the 1950s than McCarthy’s committee
the McCarran committee
nickname of the SISS
AWARE
a for-profit organization promoted by Joseph McCarthy that offered to investigate entertainers and journalists for Communist sympahties
AFTRA
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a union representing workers in television and radio
John Henry Faulk
a radio personality in the 1950s who was blacklisted by AWARE after he helped wrest control of AFTRA from union officials backed by AWARE
John Henry Faulk vs. AWARE
case in which Faulk sued for and eventually won compensation from AWARE for losses incurred due to his blacklisting by AWARE
Fulton Sheen
American Catholic bishop known for his hosting of the TV show “Life is Worth Living” in the 1950s
Eisenhower religious affiliation
mother was member of River Brethren (a Mennonite sect) who became a Jehovah’s Witness; Eisenhower never joined JW and broke a central tenet when he attended West Point; Eisenhower was baptized in the Presbyterian Church only in 1953
Minute Women
anti-Communist women’s organization in the 1950s, members would covertly attend school board meetings and present themselves as “concerned citizens”
University of Kansas City
predecessor university to UMKC
