Description
The exam below is in 3 parts. In the first, I ask you to identify two of three passages I’ve selected. In the second and third, I ask you to answer one of the essay questions of your choosing.
Please answer the questions to the best of your ability in the time allotted. Good Luck!
(instructions continue below)
Some additional notes:
Instructions for what I mean by identifying the passage or quotation are provided in the first of three quotes you could consider. But just to be doubly clear: there are ALWAYS TWO PARTS. What the quote means in the author’s work AND the significance of this notion to our course.
Time and time use
You have a maximum of 2 and a half hours to complete this exam. This exam was not written to require that much time, however. I expect a very strong response can readily be written in 90 minutes, with some additional time allotted for editing, perhaps. Please plot out your time and use it well. Working from a 90 minute total time, that would look something like 18 minutes for the IDs and 36 minutes for each essay. But remember, you have quite a bit more time if you need it.
Offering a causal analysis or an explanation for something
In answering the causal essay questions, be sure to specify somewhere in your response (1.) the distinguishing characteristics of what it is you are being asked to explain, as well as (2.) the distinct and separate contributions of each important causal factor to the development in question. Integrating details from the readings where appropriate strengthens an essay.
When thinking about causal analysis, sometimes it’s useful to think of the what, why and how parts of your answer. The “what” is what you’re explaining, often an outcome. The “why” highlights what spurs or drives change, or shapes a particular outcome. Conventionally, we think of these are the reasons why we see the outcome we see. The “how” gets at the process by which those elements you say drive change or are responsible for the outcome actually produce the that outcome or change. This captures the logic by which change occurs, or more broadly, how things work.
