History 232/Midterm Study Guide

TEST DATE: FEBRUARY 14TH

Format:

I.                    MULTIPLE CHOICE: 50%

These questions will be taken from lecture.

There will be 27 multiple choice questions. You will answer 25 of them. To give you an idea of the level of difficulty, here are two examples of questions used on a previous exam:

Which Amendment added woman suffrage to the Constitution?
A. 19th
B. 20th
C. 21st
D. 22nd

The Reconstruction era Wade-Davis Bill was
A. wildly successful.
B. pocket-vetoed by Lincoln.
C. responsible for ending slavery.
D. signed by Lincoln.

II.                 ESSAY:  50%

One of the following questions will be on the exam. You should prepare all three.

Ø      What were the most important reforms of the Progressive era?

Ø      What caused the Great Depression? What were the key government responses?

Ø      The decade of the 1920s has been characterized by both cultural flowering and signs of provincialism. Should we consider the 1920s a decade dominated by progress or by decay?

HOW TO STUDY FOR THIS EXAM:

1. Separate your thinking on the studying into two realms, the essay and the multiple choice, but be willing to link up the two later. Too many students learn tons of info for the multiple choice and then fail to include that same detail in the essay.

2. Make outlines for the essays. NO, YOU CAN’T USE THOSE ON THE EXAM, but it is a great way to study. Make sure that your outlines have way too much detail, way more than any normal human could ever remember.

3. Try to memorize the outlines. Try to write them word for word without looking at the original. Fill in the gaps where you did not recall something. Do it again. Walk around your study area speaking the outline, looking down only when you need to for a quick reminder of the detail. Speak it again. Write it again…and most of all, have fun.

4. Use a textbook or online sources while you study to fill in the gaps in your notes and to add detail where you lack it.

5. Follow Napoleon’s advice: “In planning a campaign I purposely exaggerate all the dangers and all the calamities that the circumstances make possible.”