Midterm Exam Spring 2020 Prompt PDF

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Prof. Elizabeth Digeser...

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Midterm Exam History 2A Spring 2020 UCSB – Professor E. Digeser

This is an open-book, open-note exam. You will have 48 hours to complete it, but that does not mean that you should spend 48 hours writing this exam. These questions are exactly the same as those I would give you as a 75-minute open-book exam while sitting in our classroom. My expectation is that you will spend a few hours writing a pretty good exam. I have designed this exam to test your comprehension of the themes and issues of this class as I have discussed them in my lectures, and as you have engaged with them in the readings and your discussion sections. There is absolutely no need for you to consult other sources, either in print or online. If you DO consult sources other than those assigned for the class, you MUST include a citation to them every time you use them. Please see the section on proper citations at the bottom of the exam. Failure properly to cite outside sources may expose you to a charge of plagiarism. We will be using software to help us identify plagiarized exams. Please also see the section at the bottom for how to cite materials from class. Remember that good historical essays consider a problem from more than one side. They argue a point of view based on supporting evidence. Please draw your evidence from lecture, from the textbook, and from your readings. If you have questions, you may email your TA or me. We will do our best to respond to your emails promptly within our normal work hours (roughly 8am PDT – 5pm PDT). Please write your answer to ONE of the questions below. Your essay should be at least two and a half typed pages and no more than five typed pages (12-point font, 1” margins). You must upload your essay to our GauchoSpace page before 7pm Pacific Daylight Time on 1 May. 1 1. In the Story of Sinuhe, we learned about important characteristics of Sinuhe’s community in ancient Egypt from the way he reacted to his life among “the Asians.” For example, we could tell how much Egyptians valued the afterlife from Sinuhe’s desire to be buried back in Egypt. Think about people in sources or regions we have read about: what if they suddenly found themselves living in other places and times? What would they miss from their homes? What would they find confusing about the communities in their new places? What new things might they enjoy? In answering this question, please write about three of the following possibilities: • What if Gilgamesh found himself in ancient Egypt? • What if Achilles from the Iliad found himself in “Bronze Age” south Asia? • What if an ancient Persian found herself among followers of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama)? • What if a follower of Confucius found herself in ancient Uruk? 1 If you have trouble uploading your exam to GauchoSpace, please email it to your TA before the 7pm PDT deadline has passed. If technical difficulties prevent you from uploading or emailing your exam, please document these problems with a photo or screen shot; then, as soon as you are able, please contact your TA.

2. Compare and contrast the different rules or guidelines for living that we learned about in Unit Four (“How Should We Live Now?”). What do they have in common? What is unique about each one? To what extent does the political, environmental, or economic context in which these ideas arose help us explain or understand these similarities and differences? Now think about those parts of the ancient world that are “dark” to historians because either no writing survives or we are unable to read their language. Can we make any “educated guesses” about their rules for living, based on the ancient sources that you just discussed? Proper citations If you are citing outside sources in print: Author, Title, translator (date published), pages. Example: Homer, Odyssey, trans. Emily Wilson (2017), 47. Example: Violet Moller, The Map of Knowledge (2019), 85. If you are citing outside online sources: Author, Title (url). Example: Hans Pohlsander, “Constantine I” (http://www.romanemperors.org/conniei.htm). Example: “Constantine the Great” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great) Citing the textbook: Tignor, page. Example: Tignor, 117. Citing a source from class: Author (if there is one), Title. Example: Homer, Iliad Example: The Epic of Gilgamesh Citing material from lecture: Professor Digeser, “Lecture Title,” date, slide number (if applicable). Example: Digeser, “Warring States,” 21 April, 5....