AC2OO

AC200  FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS

Instructions: Following are the essay options that you will be asked to address during the final examination on Tuesday, December 14. Please prepare your responses to the essay questions independently of other students. In preparing for the exam,you may write down (or type) any information that will help you to compose your two essays in class, as long as your notes for each essay fit on one side of one 8 and 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper. (Because there are two essays, you may bring in a total of two single-sided or one double-sided sheet(s) of notes. Please do not include any information in your notes that is not directly pertinent to your essays.)

PART I -- CUMULATIVE ESSAY (1 hour - 50 points)

Instructions: Please respond to one of the following two questions:

Option 1: The official theme of the Centennial Exposition in 1876 was "A Century of Progress." In the one-hundred years that followed the Centennial, how did American attitudes concerning cultural and material progress evolve? In your response, be sure to cite at least four specific events and/or texts (two of which are from the period 1876-1940) that reflect Americans' changing perspectives on the optimistic theme of progress.

Option 2: In this course, we have examined the development of a mass-mediated consumer culture in the United States. In the period 1876-1976, how did specific, mass-mediated cultural forms reshape the patterns of everyday life? In your response, be sure to cite at least four different examples, two of which are from the period 1876-1940.

PART II -- SHORT ESSAY (30 minutes - 25 points)

Instructions: Please respond to one of the following three questions:

(1) At the turn of the century, W.E.B. DuBois wrote that the problem of the twentieth century was "the problem of the color line." Focusing on the period 1930-1976, assess the accuracy of DuBois's statement. Be sure to focus on three historically distinct examples in your response. (Please note that "color line" can be understood to refer not only to relations between African Americans and whites, but to relations among other racial groups as well.)

(2) Throughout this course, we have examined the relationship between self and community in American cultural life. How did various groups and individuals understand the relationship between self and community in the period 1945-1976? (In this context, "community" could be defined as the nation, a region, and/or a group defined by race, gender, or some other factor of identity.) Focusing on three examples, discuss American perceptions of the relationship between self and community in the period 1945-1976.

(3) Generational conflict and consciousness have played a significant role in American cultural formation. Focusing on three different generational cohorts, discuss how generational issues informed the process of cultural change in the period 1930-1976.

For a sample identification, please refer to the midterm link on the assignment page for week 7 or 8. Identifications will make up 25 percent of the exam. You will be asked to identify five out of eight possible passages, images, and/or terms. The identifications will be taken from the period 1930-1976.

OFFICE HOURS THIS WEEK:

MONDAY 1-3

TUESDAY 10:15-11:45

OR BY APPOINTMENT