Final Exam
The final exam will take place on April 30 at 7-10 pm
The exam will consist of two parts, both based on lectures and assigned primary documents. Part A quotes will be taken from documents assigned for all weeks after the break. Six essay study questions are given in advance below.
Part A: Identify, situate chronologically (approximately), and briefly explain any FOUR of the SIX provided quotes from primary documents assigned for this class (worth 40%). Answer these questions about each: Who said it? What was he or she referring to? What major theme in post-1945 American history this quote relates to? Why are this quote and the person who said it important?
Part B: Answer any TWO of the FOUR provided questions with a complete, well-organized essay (worth 60%). The final essays covers all the course material from the beginning of the semester, including lectures, documents, and texbook.
The exam is worth 35% of the final grade.
Essay Study Questions
1. Between 1945 and 2008 the United States conducted several military actions, open and covert, aimed to bring democracy to various world nations. How successful were these democratization projects? Discuss at least two campaigns as examples.
2. Many historians consider the civil rights movement the most important social movement in the twentieth century US history. What were its successes and failures? Compare and contrast Martin Luther King's and Malcolm X's views of the civil rights movement as examples.
3. Historians have argued that the feminist movement may have been the most successful of the new social movements of the 1960s. Describe how the women's movement between 1877 and 1960s led up to the rise of feminism, then analyze the achievements and losses of the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
4. Historians believe that the powers of U.S. Presidents greatly expanded in the second half of the twentieth century. Yet other important events led to legislation that narrowed the President's power. Describe two major events that affected the institution of U.S. Presidency, and explain how the President's role was transformed as a result.
5. What were the causes and consequences of the rise of conservative movements in the United States at the end of the twentieth century? Describe at least two examples in detail.
6. Historians believe that youth culture did not emerge as a major cultural phenomenon in the United States until the post-World War II era. Using at least two examples, explain in what ways youth culture was central to political and economic life in the U.S. in this period.