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QUIZ 1 Hist. 132, FALL 2020 12
QUIZ 1
HISTORY 132 FALL 2020
DUE: Tuesday, September 15th, no later than midnight
This quiz is based on Chapters 15 and 16 in Brinkley.
READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS! What follows immediately may seem way over the top for a short (relatively) quiz. But, every test will follow this format so you might as well absorb the “how to” now. At the end of the quiz, I’ve also included “Some Thoughts on Strategy” which would be worth your time to read before writing the quiz.
These are questions exactly like the ones you’ll see on the exam. For that reason, I’ve included a few of each type that you are most likely to see except for a full essay, which you will see on exams. The quiz in worth 62 points, which in the grand scheme of things, is not a lot. It’s about a third of what a full exam is worth. Still, it’s 62 points. Since your semester grade comes from the sum of all the points earned, this is not unworthy of your time.
THIS IS IMPORTANT! READ EACH QUESTION CAREFULLY. THINK THROUGH TO THE MOST LOGICAL, MOST REASONABLE ANSWER. For Multiple Choice, read both the question and ALL options for an answer. None of these questions are intended to be tricky or devious; they are all drawn directly from the assigned material. If you don’t understand what the question is asking or don’t think logically as to what the best possible answer is, your odds of being incorrect skyrocket.
SPECIFIC INSRUCTIONS:
You can “save” this test and write directly into it or create a separate document. Either way, you will return it to me as an attachment to an e-mail.
Put your finished test into Word or .rtf and send it to [email protected]. Do NOT send it via Blackboard or to my UAA e-mail address.
Be sure to put your name and page number on each page.
Submit your test by Tuesday, September 15th, no later than midnight. If circum-stances arise that might prevent you from meeting that deadline, you must let me know about them well ahead. I can be accommodating to emergencies but once I post the general comments, I cannot accept further submissions. Let me emphasize that this is meant to cover genuine and unforeseen emergencies and what constitutes valid reasons is my call.
VERY IMPORTANT: If you do not get a note from me that I have received your test, try again until you do. Remember, I have no way of knowing that I did not receive something you sent. It is your responsibility to keep trying until I confirm that I have your test.
The assigned material is all you need to answer the questions. That said, you may use any acceptable (that is, reputable scholarly work) source but there are two requirements. First, any answer you write has to be correct based on information in the assigned material. That is, regardless of source, your answer cannot conflict with the materials assigned in this course. Second, if you use other than assigned material, you must provide a citation. If you cite an on-line source, the footnote must include the complete url and the date you accessed the site. Not doing so will cost points.
All direct quotes, regardless of source, must have a citation.
Again for emphasis, this test is due by Tuesday, September 15th, no later than midnight. The date-time reference on your e-mail will be proof of timely submission. Tests submitted after that date will be penalized as outlined in the Syllabus. I will not accept any submissions after I post General Comments on Blackboard.
At the risk of over-emphasizing (but think why I might do that), there are some things you should take seriously. Again, these ideas will be relevant to all tests.
First, there is one essay. This is short and straight-forward but there will be essays, some longer and more involved, on future exams. This isn’t the place to give guidance on writing essays (I do that elsewhere) but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. An essay is not a text message. It is not an outline, a bunch of bullet points, or a random jumble of data points. As a rule of thumb, you always want to craft a narrative that is cohesive, informative, and thoughtfully constructed. You don’t have to cram in every possible detail; length is not indicative of quality. What you do need to do is make the narrative complete enough and clear enough so that an average reader “gets it”. That is, don’t write for me because you’ll make assumptions as to what you can safely leave out. After all, “he knows what I mean” is not a sound basis for a good essay. As guidance, remember the old adage of “who, what, why, where, when, and how”. If you get as much of that as appropriate into your answer, you’ll have the foundation of a strong, informative response.
Second, do not answer a question until you have actually read and understood what it is asking. Double-check to make sure your answer actually answer the question that was being asked. In the short answer sections, if any part of a statement is wrong, then you have to treat the whole thing as wrong. In the Multiple Choice section, some questions will ask you to identify which option is “NOT” correct, usually with the word “Except”. That is, three of the answers are correct; your task is to find the one answer that is wrong.
This is really important . . . no matter how often I say it, a few people always seem to miss the significance of “Except” and end up missing four or five questions that didn’t need to be if they had simply slowed down and read the question with comprehension.
ALSO: In any narrative answer, pause and ask if you have answered all the parts of the question. Most essay questions have more than one element. Take a moment ensure you’ve covered everything.
Third, again, you are free to consult any source but your answers cannot conflict with the assigned readings. If you go to an outside source, don’t cherry-pick info that sounds like it’ll fit. Make sure you read enough of it to understand if it really fits or not. This is particularly important if you are looking at an on-line source because you only see what’s on the screen at any one time. It’s really easy to miss information three screens away that skews or changes what you are looking at.
Fourth, for all parts of the test, there are 2 fundamental strategies you should always consider:
Thing about dates. Dates are clues as to what the answer logically could be but, as importantly, they are clues to what the answer cannot be.
Always consider your answer in the time frame and in the context of the material being covered by the test. “Context” means the framework of the larger story, the time period, and the topical themes. Here, the context is Brinkley, Chapters 15 and 16.
Let me emphasize, this is not a race. Don’t hurry just to get done. You have two great advantages here: time and resources. Use them.
A note of warning - this is NOT a team effort. This test is to be your work alone. Penalties for breaking this rule can be painful.
FINALLY, TAKE TIME TO REVIEW YOUR WORK!
PROOF READ!!!!
Did you read all the above stuff? Sure, it’s long(ish) and dry(ish) but there are reasons why the info is there. Don’t be the ship captain who sails into unknown waters without having looked at the chart first!
MULTIPLE CHOICE: (5 points each, 25 points total)
PLEASE, PLEASE – take time to read and understand not only the question but each of the four options for answer. Make sure you understand just what the question is asking. While there may initially appear to be more than one right answer, if you read the question carefully to see what it is asking, there will be only one best answer. Also, if any part of the choice is wrong, then you have to consider the entire choice wrong. For example, if “A” is correct except the date is off or the name is wrong, then the entire statement has to be considered wrong. Examine one of the other options.
Notice that a question asks you to identify which option is “NOT” correct by using the word “Except”. That is, three of the answers are correct; your task is to find the one answer that is wrong.
Remember also that if any part of a choice for an answer is wrong, then the statement has to be considered entirely wrong. There is no such thing as a “mostly right” right answer.
1. After the Civil War, land grants and ease of transportation by railroads initiated a rush of settlers establishing homesteads in the West. But by the 1880s/1890s, a condition Brinkley termed “agrarian malaise” was widespread. All of the following were reasons for “agrarian malaise” EXCEPT:
A. increasing numbers of young people left the farm for cities
B. the inadequacy of the government’s cash bonuses to every settler who began residency in new territories
C. humiliation at the ridicule by the emerging urban culture
D. lack of social connections that gave a sense of community
2. The 1864 Congressional plan for Reconstruction differed from Lincoln’s plan in that it specified all of the following conditions EXCEPT:
A. a majority of white males in a conquered state had to pledge allegiance to the Union before a state constitutional convention could convene.
B. any new state constitution would have to disenfranchise civil and military leaders of the Confederacy
C. the Federal government, not individual states, would assume responsibility for the political rights of the Freedmen
D. all delegates to a state constitutional convention had to swear they had never borne arms against the United States
3. The Congressional Reconstruction Acts of 1867:
A. Divided the defeated Confederate states into five military districts occupied by Union troops
B. Provided for the disenfranchisement of the remaining slaves in ten southern states
C. Guaranteed the restoration of White supremacy after the election of 1876
D. Made ratification of the three “Reconstruction Amendments” optional if opposed by a majority of registered voters
4. Which of the following statements is most true about the impact of the Civil War, according to information in Brinkley?
A. In spite of the best efforts of the Radicals and the North in general, the war
barely changed the social structure of the Old South
B. The war was a catastrophe unmatched in American history, the war gave the South an enduring characteristic far different from any other region in the country.
C. after a brief period of social turmoil and economic disruption, the South was
largely restored to conditions generally similar to the rest of the nation.
D. due to massive government spending during the war, the economies of all
regions of the United States enjoyed a boost, including that of the South
5. Which of the following is the correct chronological order of the mining booms in the West? The map on page 440 might help.
A. Anaconda (Montana), California, Comstock, Pike’s Peak
B. Anaconda, Comstock, Pike’s Peak, Black Hills
C. Washoe, Comstock, Black Hills, Anaconda
D. California, Pike’s Peak, Leadville, Black Hills
TRUE/FALSE (2 points each; 12 points total). Indicate whether the statement is true or false. If any part of the statement is false, then you must consider the entire thing as false.
1. According to Brinkley, one of the lasting consequences of the greenback question was that it settled once and for all what the composition of the uniform, national currency would be. T F
2. According to Brinkley, over 20 percent of the White male population of the Confederate states died in the war. T F
3. In the late 1860s, Chinese immigrants formed about 10-percent of the work force of the Central Pacific, the western portion of the transcontinental railroad T F
4. Rutherford B. Hayes became president because he won the popular vote by about 300,000 votes. T F
5. Commercial-scale farmers in the West faced many unique challenges but shared one great advantage with industrial capitalists – they could regulate production and thereby influence prices. T F
6. According to Brinkley, in the 1870s, attitudes about the “Great American Desert” began to shift because climate change brought higher than average rainfall to the Great Plains T F
FILL-IN-THE-BLANK. Fill in the blank space with the most appropriate answer as given in Brinkley. (10 points - 2 point for each blank filled in correctly)
1. The author ___________ (name the person) gave voice to a romantic vision of the Far Wets in his book Roughing It. .
2. In 1882, to address what was seen as a “Chinese problem”, Congress passed the _______________________ banning Chinese immigration.
3. In 1893, a historian proposed a theory that the frontier was one of the most important democratizing forces in American history. This famous theory is known as
__________________________________.
4. “Seward’s Folly” refers to _____________________________________________.
5. In 1892, _____________ (name the person) wrote a series of essays that launched what became a national anti-lynching movement.
SHORT ESSAY - 15 points. “Short” means just that - roughly a page or two but “essay” means something more developed than a few cryptic sentences. A modest (but thorough) paragraph on each amendment would be sufficient as long as you capture the key points. Take some time to sketch out what you intend to say before beginning to write. Take time to review and revise. The goal is to craft a cohesive, coherent essay that fully answers the question.
REMEMBER: Regardless of length, “Essay” means a carefully thought-out, coherently developed, and clearly written discussion. It is not cryptic bullet points, an outline, or a summary. It is a written narrative presenting the reader with the most important attributes of the topic, enough so the reader “gets it”.
It might help to remember the Rule of Ws: Who, what, why, where, when, and how. If you get as much of those as appropriate into your answer, you’ll inevitably have the framework of a good essay.
Proofread the final product before submitting it.
IMPORTANT: While there are three constitutional amendments collectively known as the “Reconstruction Amendments”, the Thirteenth was passed during the war so the fuller discussion occurs in an earlier chapter. However, the amendment is pretty short and unambiguous and you can get all you need to answer this question simply by reading it on page A-13. The other two amendments are discussed in Chapter15 and also appear on Page A-13. It would be useful if you actually read the amendments, partly because it’s pretty common that people ascribed things to an amendment that it doesn’t actually say.
THE QUESTION:
In the aftermath of the Civil War, Congress passed and the states approved three amendments to the Constitution collectively known as the “Reconstruction Amendments”. Briefly discuss each of these three amendments, giving the provisions of each one. In your discussion of each amendment, be sure to include what problem or situation each was intended to solve. That is, provide the context of what was going on that made the amendment necessary.
NOTE: Your answer must include at least (and hopefully more) on each of the three amendments.
For the 13th Amendment, what problem in American society did it solve?
For the 14th Amendment, be sure your answer discusses who, specifically, is included in the meaning of its provisions? In spite of the interpretation of the amendment by today’s courts, can you think of someone or something that isn’t actually specified?
For the 15th Amendment, who was left out? That is, the amendment was specific on who was affected but can you identify who wasn’t covered by the amendment’s provisions?
SOME THOUGHTS ON STRATEGY
In completing the exam, your best course of action is to carefully read the question, figure out what is being asked, and then answer precisely that question. In the short answer questions, keep in mind that if any part of a statement is wrong, then you must consider it wrong or, for the True-False section, false. In the Multiple Choice section, you have to first analyze the question to be sure what it is actually asking. Then you have to think about the four options for answer. How does each one match up to the question? Again, the statement has to be completely correct. Even if part of it is true, if the rest is not, you have to assume that that isn’t the answer.
This exam has only the “technologies and innovations” so there’s no need to go to outside sources. But the general rules for writing any essay still apply. For example, a long answer is futile if it answers a question that wasn’t asked. Take some time before getting into the essay to organize your thoughts. Once you’ve written a draft, pause and ask yourself “have I covered everything important and have I given appropriate weight to the things I chose to discuss?” You have plenty of time. And you have access to your texts and other sources. It’s not a race and there’s no prize for finishing first. So, take your time, be careful, think! If you skip a question, don’t forget to go back to it.
While you shouldn’t need to, you can use any source available to you (including the internet) but you MUST (!!!!) cite it fully. What does “fully” mean? It means, can I verify what you wrote if I decide to check? At a minimum, you must include a “url” or the title, author, and page number of a referenced book. If you get stuck on a citation, there is a document on footnoting up on Blackboard.
And please do not just cut-and-paste sections out of a Google hit or a Wikipedia page. You can cite sources to your heart’s content. Short quotes are fine. But, overall, the narrative development must be your own.
In my experience, there are always two basic problems students struggle with:
Not reading the question carefully enough to understand what it is really asking;
lack of clarity and coherent development.
In the vast majority of cases, both points have a common solution: SLOW DOWN!
By the second point, I don’t necessarily mean that the information wasn’t there. What I mean is that the information lacked structure. Remember, part of what makes a satisfying historical narrative is the progression of the information from a logical and sensible beginning through to an equally logical and sensible stop. The longer the answer, the more true this is. Develop your response well enough to answer the question asked thoroughly without getting too flowery and by resisting the urge to wander. Strive for clarity. Stay absolutely focused on just what the question is asking. When you’ve answered it, stop.
And don’t write too much. Longer is not always better. I do not evaluate your work based on mere length or the appearance of sophistication. I evaluate your effort on the quality and sensible development of appropriate information included. Answer the question, answer it as thoroughly as you can, then stop!
Be sure to provide examples, dates, and specific details as appropriate. This is very, very important. I expect you to include these wherever it is reasonable to do so and not doing so will cost points.
Last but by no means least, do not presume knowledge on my part. What I mean is, write out your answers as if explaining the topic to someone who does not know the subject. Proceed logically, point to point. Don’t assume I’ll fill-in-the-gaps in your narrative because I won’t. Again, this is very important the longer your answers are. It’s easy to skip from A to B to D, assuming the reader will instinctively fill in “C”. Don’t do that!
OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION (with apologies for some redundancy):
In the multiple choices especially, read the question carefully and then read all four possible answers. Even if you don’t know the answer directly, you can often figure it out from what you already know. Sometimes, other information elsewhere in the exam will trigger the answer for you. Two answers may appear similar but, if you think about them, one will be more correct. The answer will be the most obvious, most logical, most reasonable choice. Except by accident, there are no “off the wall” or obscure or deliberately devious questions.
Think about dates. Even if you don’t know the answer directly, you can often figure it out by deducing when something reasonably could or could not have happened.
In any of the narrative questions, always review your answers to make sure they are complete and logically developed. And very importantly, be sure your response answers the question that was asked. No matter how brilliant an answer, I cannot give credit if it does not directly and completely answer the specific question asked.
I would suggest that you read through the entire exam before answering anything. This is amazingly effective for getting your mind’s processes to work, even if you aren’t conscious of it.
Let me emphasize, this is not a race. Don’t hurry just to get done. You have two great advantages here: time and resources. Use them.
FINALLY, REVIEW YOUR WORK! RUN SPEELCHECK AND GRAMMAR-CHEEK. PROOF, PROOF, PROOF!!!
