Hist 360 Exam Study Guide
Winter 2010
The exam will take place on
Thursday Feb. 11 during regular class time. Please bring blue books and a couple writing
instruments (pencil is okay, as long as it’s legible). You will have the full class
period to complete the exam.
Format: 3 I.D.s (short essays) and 1 long essay
1.
I.D. Section (30 pts = 3 X 10 pts ea.): 5 I.D.’s will
appear, and you will choose 3 to write about.
2. Essay Section (70 pts): 3 essay questions will appear,
and you will choose 1 to answer.
An I.D. (identification)
consists of an important person, event, or term. To complete an I.D., you
should 1) explain the pertinent information such as who, what, where, when,
why, how; and 2) explain its historical significance. This means that somewhere in your answer you
should establish historical context – it is very important to situate your I.D.
in time. You should also think about cause and effect relationships. (Was it a result of something? Did it cause
something?) Was it representative of a larger phenomenon or trend? Make connections.
In terms of length, each I.D.
answer should consist of a thorough paragraph: several sentences.
Again, 5 I.D.s
will appear, and you will choose 3 to write about. If you write about more than
3, I will only grade the first 3.
The I.D.’s
will be drawn from the following list:
Ella Baker
Septima Clark
Brown vs. Board of Education
(Truman’s) President’s
Committee on Civil Rights
The Fair Deal
Elvis Presley
The Beats
G.I. Bill
The Organization Man
The Feminine Mystique
The Vital Center
House Committee on
Un-American Activities (HUAC)
George Kennan
The Truman Doctrine
The Marshall Plan
General Douglas MacArthur
CIA and
Cuban Missile Crisis
New Frontier
(note:
some of these terms or people, such as Elvis Presley, extend beyond the early
60s, but for this exam I want you to focus on the period 1945-1963 -- though
you may consider later consequences.)
To prepare for the essay, make sure you have mastered
the following overlapping material and concepts:
·
How and why
o
How the containment policy was practiced by the
Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations
o
How the 3 administrations differed from one
another (or purported to differ from one another) in foreign policy strategy
o
American administrations’ responses to crises
& movements in “third world” countries (minus
·
How the Cold War influenced American politics
and culture at home,
o
Including how Cold War culture and the Civil
Rights movement intersected.
·
Why the anti-communist fervor at home (a/k/a
Second Red Scare, a/k/a McCarthyism) arose after WWII, took hold & endured,
and faded by the end of the 1950s.
·
American culture in the 1950s (1945-1960) as:
§
A culture of affluence
§
A culture of conformity
§
A culture of anxiety
§
A culture of inequality
Every essay should start with an introduction that
contains a thesis. I caution you not to spend too much time on a
flowery introduction. What’s most important is your thesis – your
argument. The thesis should address all
major parts of the question and provide your reader with a clear idea of what
your essay will cover. However, a thesis should not simply state the
topic.
[Weak thesis: “ The Second
Red Scare was significant for many reasons.” This doesn’t really say
much.] Strive to be thorough but concise
(that advice goes for your whole essay), but your thesis does not have
to be contained in one sentence. An
essay without a clear thesis cannot earn higher than a grade of C. (If you're pressed for time, a conclusion
isn't as crucial as the introduction and the thesis.)
Through the essay, you need to address and support
your thesis by presenting evidence (including what you’ve learned from primary
documents.) This evidence should be
mixed with your analysis/interpretation.
For instance, present a piece of evidence (say, the strategy behind the
Marshall Plan) and then explain why it is significant to the larger point
you’re making in that paragraph and/or to the whole point of the essay. When possible, refer to information from
primary sources. For each piece of
evidence you present, you should be able to answer: “how does this relate to my
thesis?” Your essay should not be just a
stringing together of facts, nor should it be all generalities and analysis without
any specifics. It needs a balance.
I strongly suggest that you take a few minutes to jot
down an outline before you begin to write.
For in-class essays, I do not factor writing mechanics
(grammar, spelling, etc.) into your grade, but it should be clear enough for me
to understand your ideas. I do pay
attention to how you organize and develop your ideas in writing. This includes good paragraph structure.
Grading Rubric:
"E" essay: completely off the mark; a bomb
"D" essay: Shows a glimmer of knowledge of
the topic. Lacks a thesis. Poor
organization. Factual errors. Lacks detail.
"C" essay: Demonstrates an understanding of
the basic ideas, but has a weak thesis, has organizational problems, and
contains factual errors. Vague support.
"B" essay: Good thesis, provides analysis,
masters the main ideas, more supporting detail, including material from primary
documents. Well-organized. Very few
factual errors.
"A" essay: a
"B essay" plus more sophistication in analysis and articulation. Strong thesis.