Final Examination Preview

The exam will be based on readings, discussions, PowerPoints, and lectures related to Chapters 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, & 24. That is, the period in US history stretching from 1865 to 1939.

Part I – Multiple Choice Questions.
You will be given twenty-six questions. This section should take fifteen-twenty minutes and is worth 13 percent of your test grade. The multiple choice questions will focus on topics drawn from all chapters except Chapter 24.

Part II -- Identifications.
From a list of six terms, you will be asked to identify three in several sentences. These terms will be drawn from the terms sheets provided for each chapter and from our discussions. This section should take about fifteen minutes and is worth 12 percent of your test grade.

Part III – Short Answer Questions.
You will be given seven questions and asked to answer five of them in a concise, but thorough manner. These questions will emphasize a bit of analysis, but primarily explanation. Questions in this section will mainly, but not exclusively concentrate on topics covered in the last four chapters we studied (Ch. 20-22 & 24). This section should take twenty minutes and is worth 20 percent of your test grade.

Part IV – Connections.
You will be given six sets of three terms (i.e. names, concepts, events, etc.) and asked to describe the ways in which terms in three of the sets are connected. That is, in your responses to this section of the exam, you will be asked to explain what a set of three items have in common. This section should take twenty minutes and is worth 15 percent of your test grade.

EXAMPLE

Terms: The Grange – Populist Party – William Jennings Bryan

Now think about the following questions: How are these terms related? To what group does each of these items connect? What impulses or trends do they highlight?

Part V – Essay.
In response to the essay question below, write a well-organized, detailed (as much as possible), multi-paragraph essay. This section should take 50 minutes and is worth 40 percent of your test grade.

Essay Topic:
Many historians have claimed that the growth in the scope and influence of the federal government following the Civil War is one of the more significant themes in US history. Trace the expansion of the federal government between 1865 and 1939 by focusing primarily on a single issue (i.e. labor rights, the presidency, social reform movements, international policy, civil rights, etc.). The Hitch: You must also discuss how this topic (changes in the power afforded the federal government) reaches into the decade you researched.