The college has scheduled the final
exam for all courses with our section code (GJ) for May 24 (Friday) from
1:00 to 3:00 P.M. I want to give maximum flexibility to suit the
schedules and neuroses of pressured students at the end of term. So you
have the option of working on the questions at home for submission on or
before May 24 or of coming to our classroom with study notes and books and
writing your answers then and there.
The main function of any exam should be a final
opportunity for students to show how well they have met some of the major
objectives of the course. The information page of this site lists these
objectives - After
completing this course you should be able to:
- Understand the British roots of American
political and constitutional institutions
- Identify the particular colonial conditions
that shaped the Revolution and the American institutions that emerged
from it.
- Describe the ways the Revolution shaped
American identity
- Place key ideas that
shaped our political and constitutional systems into historical context
- Select and explain key events and people for
discussing the revolution and its outcome
- Discuss the issue whether the American
Revolution was revolutionary
- Demonstrate skills in the critical use of secondary and
primary sources and in clear well organized writing
Write two short
essays (about one blue book each in length), one for Part I and the other
for Part II. Please note that objective #7 applies to every essay!
Part I: How
Revolutionary was the Revolution?
The focus is on the 6th objective and requires
the use of Joyce Appleby's Inheriting the Revolution. Discuss
how fundamentally the Revolution changed American life by comparing
Georgian America (see syllabus topics 1 & 3) with Appleby's presentation
of the America of the revolutionary generation's heirs. Your essay should
show your understanding of her thesis with reference to chapters 1 and 2
and then should focus on ONE other chapter.
Part II
(Thanks to Karen Adams)
Choose one from among objectives 1
to 5 as a focus and write a short essay that discusses the most valuable
or surprising thing you have learned about that aspect of the course. Be
sure to provide the number of the objective focus you have chosen.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS:
