Your Final Exam.

Here are some helpful details about your final exam:

There are 145 objective questions, and one essay question.  Here is how the objective questions are broken down.

• 1-15 -  Guns, Germs, and Steel
• 16-26 - ancient civilizations
• 27-36 - ancient Egypt
• 37-78 - ancient Greece
• 79-126 - ancient Rome
• 127-145 - feudalism

The essay will count for 25% of your final exam grade.  The objective part of the test will be the other 75% of your exam grade.  And the total final exam grade counts for 20% of your semester grade.  So, it will be well worth your time to prepare thoroughly for this essay.  Also keep in mind that prepping for this essay is a good way to study for the objective part of the test.  Feel free to use your old tests to study for the exam AND to prepare for the essay.

Also, please remember to bring your textbook to the exam.

Here is the essay question.  Please note that you are being asked to write about two different societies.

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Consider the civilizations we studied this semester:

·         Mesopotamia

·         ancient Egypt

·         ancient Greece

·         the Roman Republic

·         the Roman Empire

·         Europe during the feudalistic Middle Ages

You might have enjoyed living in some of these times and places; others would not appeal to you as much.  In this essay, you will pick one civilization that you would have loved to be a part of, and another civilization where you may not have been as comfortable, and compare the two societies.  But this is not an essay for merely expressing opinions in general terms.  Get specific about what aspects of life in these civilizations you liked, and what aspects you didn't like.  May I suggest you address some of the following topics as you discuss these two societies:

·         Government (could citizens participate, what were the laws like)

·         Technologies/inventions (what breakthroughs did these civilizations come up with)

·         Geography (climate, topography, relative position)

·         Role of women (were women valued members of society, is this important to you)

·         Religion (what role did religion play in people's lives)

·         Middle class life (what jobs were available, what was the standard of living, were there opportunities available for people like you)

·         Entertainment (what did people do to fill their spare time)

·         Important people (who were the major figures of the time, and would you have wanted to get to know them)

·         Art (what artistic developments and innovations were occurring, were the arts an important part of the lives of the people)

Feel free to explore other topics if you like.

Detail is the key to success with this essay.  Give specific positives and negatives about two different societies.  Organize your writing as you see fit.

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If you have any questions, email me or find me at school on Monday.  

This is probably the last blog I will post this year, so let me say thank you for being such a terrific group!  Good luck on all your exams, and have a great summer!