Hist 112 Final Exam Instructions

(Final Exam is 25% of course grade)

 

The Final Exam takes place on Monday, December 17, 8:30-11 am in our regular classroom. Please bring a bluebook to the exam.

 

The exam covers material since the midterm (World War II through 1980s).

The exam will have two parts: 1. Two short essays - IDs. 2. One long essay.

 

Part I: Three I.D.s (short essays) (3 X 10 points ea. = 30 points total)

Below I have listed several terms (identifications – I.D.s). Five of these terms will appear on the exam, and you will choose three to write about.

 

For each term you have selected, write a substantial paragraph that:

a)      explains the basic information about it (who, what, where, when, why, how – you should be fairly systematic about your explanation) This means that somewhere in your answer you should establish historical context – it is very important to situate this term in time.

b) explains its historical significance. Did it cause something? Was it a result of something? Was it representative of a larger phenomenon or trend?  Make connections.  You may even want to end each essay with a sentence that begins: “[Blank] is historically significant because it demonstrates…”

 

List of possible terms for the short essays

Rosie the Riveter

A.     Philip Randolph & the March on Washington Movement

The Truman Doctrine

G.I. Bill

Levittown

The Feminine Mystique

Senator Joe McCarthy

Brown vs. Board of Education

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Stokely Carmichael

First Indochina War

Ngo Dinh Diem

The Tet Offensive

Nixon and the Vietnam War

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Free Speech Movement

Consciousness-raising groups

Medicare & Medicaid

Watergate

 

Link here to see a sample short essay. ( a term from the first half of the course)

 

 

Part II: One long essay (70 points)

One of the following essay questions will appear on the exam. (You should prepare for both questions.)   Respond to the question with an essay that begins with an introduction paragraph featuring a well-crafted thesis. The thesis should concisely, yet specifically, offer your response to the question. The rest of the essay should consist of main body paragraphs that logically develop your thesis with specific evidence.

As on the midterm, I do not pay much attention to writing errors when students write in-class essays; however, if the essay is so poorly written and organized that I cannot understand your main points, then your grade will suffer.

 

One of the following questions will appear, verbatim, on the exam:

 

  1. Many Americans nostalgically remember the 1950s as an era of calm, prosperity, and “happy days.” Explain how this romantic view oversimplifies the complexities, anxieties, and conflicts of that post-World War II era.

 

  1. In the 1960s, how were the Civil Rights Movement(s), New Left/anti-war movement, and Feminist Movement(s) connected? 

 

By “connected,” I mean how were they similar in terms of ideas, strategies, factions & divisions, and successes & failures.

[note #1: you may discuss relevant points about the civil rights movement in the 1950s]

[note #2 : I could have asked another question -- how were these movements different from one another? -- but for this essay I want you to focus on intersections among the movements.]

 

For these essays I encourage you to use all relevant course materials and refer to primary sources where pertinent.