World History I Syllabus

 

World History I: Exam 1 Guide: Spring 2014
 

What is covered on Exam 1?

Assuming we are successful in reaching the point set out in the Syllabus for the First Exam, the following chapters will be covered by this exam: Adler & Pouwels, Chapters 1-9, pp.1-118; as well as the following primary-source texts:

1. from Gilgamesh
2. from The Code of Hammurabi
3. from The Satire on the Trades
4. from The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant
Multiple Voices I: "Art in the service of the Monarchs of the Nile" (6 Artworks)
5. "The Priest King" and "The Hagia Triada Sarcophagus"
6. Indus, Mesopotamian, & Cretan Seals
7. from The Book of Documents
8. from The Book of Songs
9. from The Rig Veda
10. Homer, The Odyssey
12. from The Book of Genesis
13. from The Book of Deuteronomy
14. from The Upanishads
15. from The Bhagavad Gida (part of The Mahabharata)
16. The Buddha, Setting in motion the wheel of the law
17. The Buddha, Questions that tend not to edification
18. Zarathustra, Gathas
19. from The Book of Isaiah
20. Laozi, The Classic of the Way and Virtue
21. Confucius, Analects
23. Herodotus, Histories (and the Golden Comb with Battle Scene)
24. Euripides, The Bacchae
25. Plato, The Phaedo
26. Four Hellenic Sculptures
33. Four Hellenistic Works of Art
Thucydides, from The History of the Peloponnesian War: ("The Melian Dialog")


The Elements of the Exam

The First Exam will consist of 4 parts:

Part One [40 pts]
10 questions of an "objective" nature, i.e., requiring little more than recitation or accurate identification of data drawn from the narrative textbook & class meetings.

A. Multiple Choice, in which students are asked to select the best answer. Sometimes, more than one answer will have accurate data, though only one will be the most accurate (i.e., most comprehensive without the inclusion of inaccurate data).

    Q1. Egypt may have developed a less warlike, more unified culture than Mesopotamia through its first millenium of civilization because
    __A.The Nile River flooded massively, but much more regularly than the Tigris-Euphrates.
    __B. The Nile Valley was more isolated from outsiders by desert, mountains, & the sea than Mesopotamia.
    __C. The Egyptians practiced mummification, unlike the Mesopotamians.
    __D. A & B only.
    __E. A, B, & C.
The best answer here is D. For this question, one would receive partial credit for checking either A or B; both factors appear to have contributed to the creation of a 'less warlike, more unified culture' than in Mesopotamia. Answer C is an accurate statement, but is not related (at least not in any clear way) to those qualities of Egyptian civilization.

Sometimes, more than one answer will be expected.

    Q2. Which two of the following were roughly contemporaneous with the Trojan War?
    __A. The battle of Marathon __E. The beginning of the Shang Dynasty
    __B. Early Olmec civilization __F. Hammurabi
    __C. The Mauryan Dynasty/Empire began __G. Cyrus the Great ruled Persia
    __D. The Hittite destruction of Babylon __H. Aryan invasions of the Indus valley

"Contemporaneous" means "at at the same time." So the Trojan war happened shortly before the onset of the Dark Age, perhaps around 1250 BCE. The two closest events on the list are B & H.


B. Identification: Another possible question, often counting at double-value (so that if there were five of these, that might constitute the whole of Part One of this Exam) is the Identification. It is posed as: "Identify and Explain the Historical Significance of" something. Identifications should be written out in complete sentences that (briefly) explain what needs to be explained. Do not just write out phrases taken from powerpoint slides. You must demonstrate your understanding of the concept, not simply repeat associated code-words copied down from PP slides. An ID is a two-part problem: locating the person, thing, or event in place and time and then saying what about it/her/him is most significant. Don't be obsessed with precise dates: the answer below would be worth full credit even without them, as long as the Hyksos & Dark Age were mentioned. But do write in clear, correct sentences.

Q3. Identify and Explain the Significance of: The Egyptian New Kingdom.

    The Egyptian New Kingdom ran from the expulsion of the foreign Hyksos by the pharaoh Ahmose (ca. 1570 BCE) well into the Dark Age (c.1069 BCE). The ENK was a militant, conquering period in which the Egyptians took and held for long periods, Palestine, Lebanon, and part of Syria under pharaohs such at Thutmose III & Ramses II.

This Identification is about 60 words long. An ID shorter than about 40 words is most likely too brief.


Part Two [10 pts]
Identification of 5 quoted passages from the primary-source readings assigned.

    Q4. "If a man divorces his spouse who has not borne him children, he shall give to her all the silver of the bride-price, and restore to her the dowry which she brought from the house of her father; and so he shall divorce her."

Answer: The judgements (or law-code) of Hammurabi.

There will be six quotations, from which five must be identified.


Part Three [50 pts]
A short essay (150 words minimum), discussing the meaning and context of ONE of the quoted passages from Part Two.

This is the weightiest part of the exam because it requires the integration of relevant data in an analytical format. Any of the quoted passages from Part Two can be chosen as the subject of a little explication essay. You should be able to explain 3 things:
    A. Explain the nature of the work from which this comes, its basic purpose and overall meaning. Also briefly describe the circumstances of its creation and a bit about the author(s) or the origin culture.

    B. Explain what is going on at the moment of the particular quotation in relation to the narrative arc or overall meaning of the text.

    C. Discuss how the idea expressed in the quoted passage (from part B) relates to or reflects the context (described in part A), either a specific political/situational context, or more broadly a cultural context.

Example: This quotation comes the "Code" of the Old-Babylonian King Hammurabi. This was a collection of judgments that set out standards and models for his officials to resolve disputes, in a consistent way that would minimize social conflict. Law was largely based on custom and reflected the traditions and practices of a people, in this case of the Amorite tribe. The law protected individuals in the context of social class and family. In Hammurabi's Code, reciprocity ("an eye for an eye") and compensation were the chief mechanisms for dealing with disputes and offenses, and these were applied on a class-basis. The quoted passage is one of those dealing with women. In Babylonian society, women had some rights. Here it is noted that if a man divorced his wife who had not borne him children, he had to send her away with her dowry and her brideprice. But it is noted elsewhere that it was easier for a husband to divorce his wife under Hammurabi's Code than for a wife to divorce her husband; she could only initiate it successfully if he was publicly offending. One can conclude that producing children (to carry on the family & its property) and family honor were the paramount issues in marriage. The return of the dowry & brideprice might have been intended to ensure the woman's welfare, but more likely it was intended to preserve the honor of the bride's family who might otherwise have reason to complain about the loss and cause trouble.


Part Four: A few bonus questions are possible for up to 10 additional pts.



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