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
The Truman Doctrine
G.I. Bill
The Feminine Mystique
Senator Joe McCarthy
Brown vs. Board of Education
Stokely Carmichael
First
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:
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.