33 pages 1 hour read

Timothy Brook

Vermeer's Hat

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2005

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Essay Topics

1.

Brook states that the seventeenth century was a century of second contacts. What does he mean by “second contacts,” and how does this concept play out through the chapters in Vermeer’s Hat? Provide specific examples.

2.

Europeans viewed trade and globalization favorably, while the Chinese had mixed views on the subject. Using examples from the book, set out an argument for and against globalization using seventeenth-century European and Chinese views of the argument.

3.

Brook lists several shipwrecks in Vermeer’s Hat. Detail these shipwrecks, and explain what each of the wrecks did to hurt or help globalization and the movement of peoples.