History 151 (Jolly) Fall 2001
Midterm Tests Study Guide

Format and Grading expectations:

Each test will have two parts: essay (50 points) and identifications (50 points). For the essay, you will have a choice of two questions, drawn from the list of questions below. For the identifications, you will choose five from a choice of eight drawn from the list below (test #1 has a map quiz with 10 items).

The essay should combine general statements (defining terms, discussing issues, making comparisons) with specific statements (supplying data, citing examples, and giving evidence).

The T.A.s will grade your essay looking for the following three things:

1. A strong thesis and arguments (take control in the introduction).
2. Content knowledge and good use of evidence (cite documents, names, dates).
3. Clear organization of ideas and information (each paragraph should start with an argument and be followed by supporting evidence).

The identifications should start with a clear definition of the item, identifying who or what, when, and where, and then explain WHY it is significant (what does it tell us about that society?). This last is the most important--the T.A.s can make allowances for "circa" (around) dates, but the lack of discussion on why something is significant means that answer will receive no better than a C- grade (7 points).

Study Guidelines and Test-taking Hints:

• Premise: learning (understanding and memory retention) takes place through manipulating information and reconfiguring it in new ways.
  • Controlling the data: Use a Matrix to compare societies on the themes in the questions.
  • Developing a thesis: make sure you can define the terms in the questions; try doing a mind map.
  • Practice essay writing: try Outlining each essay answer. What themes would you use to organize your essay? What documents would you cite as evidence?
• I do not recommend writing out essays and trying to remember them--it wastes time trying to remember non-essentials. Rather, concentrate on developing good control of the data and a thoughtful understanding of the issues through the exercises above. Memorize an outline of arguments and examples, not a whole essay.
• Keep in mind that you must use examples from the regions specified in the questions to support your arguments, but that you are not writing separate essays on each region. A superior essay will be organized by comparative topics or themes, not by region. One subargument in your essay may use examples from two or three of the specified regions, while another paragraph uses one or two others, as long as by the end of the essay you have used examples from all of the regions specified in the question. In questions where no regions are specified, you should include at least three examples from different regions.
• The regional designations in the questions are generic; make sure you pick as examples from those regions specific societies (e.g., Egypt in North Africa, or Mayans in the Americas). Review the textbook maps and lectures for each of the regional designations (see map list) to make sure you know what cultures developed there.

Identification strategies and hints:

• For the map identifications on test #1, use the maps in the textbook to locate items on a blank map (use the textbook index if need be). Associate specific items with the larger regional zone to which it belongs, and correlate it with other landmarks.
• For other identifications on the rest of the tests:
  • Study the item in its cultural context by checking where it is in the textbook and the lecture material to which it relates. Some of the items are very specific people and documents that you should be able to locate very closely in time and space. Others are broader phenomena, such as religions or concepts that you can locate in a specific culture and then give the general dates and place for that culture.
  • Jot down information and ideas starting with the most specific (who, what, when, where), moving to more general ideas (what it is evidence of), and its significance (larger course themes). Think of these layers as concentric circles radiating out from the item.
    • For people and places, give their main significance as linked to their culture, its values, and possible influence on others.
    • For culture groups ("Etruscans") or religions ("Manichaeism"), locate the culture(s) or origins, influence, and main ideas.
    • For concepts (like "the Dao"), define what it means and relate it to the specific cultural context from which it comes.

Test-taking strategies

• Spend the first 10 minutes outlining your thoughts, including developing a thesis, a list of topics, and the examples you will cite. THEN, begin writing.
• Make sure your thesis and definitions are in the first paragraph of your essay. Each subsequent paragraph should start with a thematic statement, followed by your argument and evidence. DO NOT write on each society one-by-one; rather, compare them side-by-side on a specific issue or theme.
• Cite specific examples to illustrate your points--events, people, ideas, and especially documents from the Reader, from the lecture, or the gray "readings" boxes in the textbook. Avoid "name-dropping" by explaining how the item relates to your point; on the other hand, do not go into a long description of an event or story.
• THINK about what you are saying--try to say something truly meaningful about the topic. By the time you get to the conclusion, you may be able to make some kind of general statement about the issue universally.
• When you write your identifications, move outward from the most specific to the most general statements you can make about the item. For documents, avoid describing everything it says. Rather, focus on the key ideas that are representative of something in that culture. Ask yourself, what does this document tell me about...(Buddhism, classical Greek philosophy, or whatever)?
• DO NOT SKIP ITEMS: keep in mind that an "F" answer (wrong or very incomplete) is 1-5 points out of the 10 possible. If you write nothing, we have no choice but to give you 0 points, almost a "double F." Always write something. And don't forget those dates--even if they are "circa" (around).

• when and where: Tuesday, Sept. 18 10:30-11:45 in lecture Spalding 155
• what: essay and map identifications on
  • lectures 8/28-9/13
  • T&E chapters 1-5
  • Reader chapters 1-3

Essay questions:

1. How does the environment have an impact on cultures (lifestyles and worldview)? Compare societies in the Kalahari desert, Southwest Asia and North Africa.
2. What causes people to migrate and what impact does migration have on human societies? Compare people movements in Southwest Asia, South Asia, and Oceania.
3. Why do complex societies with cities ("civilizations") arise in some areas and what is their long-term impact on surrounding areas? Compare Indus River, Yellow River, and Mesoamerican civilizations.
4. Do women and men have distinctively different roles in ancient history? Compare different types of societies (hunter-gatherer, agricultural, urban) and the role of both men and women in them, using specific examples from different regions.
5. Why and how do we study history? Define history and discuss its purposes and methods by using examples from the cultures we have studied.

Identifications (Map)

• when and where: Thursday, October 18 10:30-11:45 in lecture Spalding 155
• what: essay and identifications on
  • lectures 9/20-10/16
  • T&E chapters 6-11
  • Reader chapters 3-7

Essay questions:

1. How do belief systems address human questions about identity and the nature of the universe? Compare Southwest Asian religions (Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity) to South Asian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism).
2. Why do empires succeed and what causes them to fail? Compare the rise and fall of Persian, Roman, and Han Empires.
3. How do philosophies or religions affect political and social life? Compare systems of thought in India, China, and Greek society.
4. How do universal religions develop? Compare the rise and spread of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity.
5. What role does cross-cultural exchange play in the development of societies? Compare developments in the Persian Empires, the Hellenistic world, and along the Silk Roads.

Identifications

1. Epic of Gilgamesh
2. Hammurabi's Code
3. Upanishads
4. Bhagavad Gita
5. Thucydides, The Funeral Oration of Pericles
6. Plato, The Republic
7. Sima Qian
8. Mandate of Heaven
9. Suetonius, Augustus
10. Gotama's Discovery
11. The Bible
12. St. Paul, Letter to the Galatians
13. The Acts of the Apostles
14. Zoroastrian gathas
15. Confucius, the Analects
16. Lao Tzu, the Tao Te Ching
17. Ashoka Maurya
18. Alexander the Great
19. Minoans and Myceneans
20. Etruscans
21. Pax Romana
22. Silk Road
23. Manichaeism

Test #3

• when and where: Thursday, November 27, 10:30-11:45 in lecture Spalding 155
• what: essay and short answer terms on
  • lectures 10/23-11/20
  • T&E chapters 12-16
  • Reader chapters 7-10

Essay Questions

1. How and why does a religion or philosophy become central in political life? Compare Confucian societies, Christian societies, and Islamic societies in the late classical and post-classical eras, from circa 1st century C.E. to 1000 C.E.
2. How do societies express cultural identity through the arts? Discuss aesthetic values using examples from various parts of post-classical (circa 500-1000 C.E.) East Asia, South or Southeast Asia, and around the Mediterranean (Byzantium or Islam). [note change in bold italics]
3. Why is warfare common and how is it an expression of a warrior culture? Discuss militarism using examples from Europe, Islamic lands, and Japan.
4. What are the consequences of having multiple cultural identities interacting or influencing one another? Compare the multicultural and crosscultural situations in post-classical East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
5. In what ways do women play an important role in the postclassical and medieval era (circa 500-1300)? Compare women's lives in East Asia, Islamic lands, and Europe or Byzantium.

Identifications

1. Eusebius, Life of Constantine
2. Justinian, Corpus Juris Civilis
3. iconoclasm
4. relics of saints
5. Benjamin of Tudela
6. dar-al-Islam
7. Jihad
8. Crusade
9. footbinding
10. Neo-Confucianism
11. Korean shamanism
12. Tea Ceremony
13. Four Ends of Man (India)
14. wayang
15. The Disposition of Error
16. The Chronicles of Japan
17. Magna Carta
18. The Quran (Koran)
19. Li Ch'ing-Chao, A wife's Collection
20. Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji
21. Omar Khayyám, The Rubiáiyát
22. Anna Commena, The Alexiad
23. Robert the Monk, Pope Urban II's Call to the First Crusade
24. Chronicle of Solomon bar Simson

Return to syllabus

kjolly@hawaii.edu 11/14/01