Short Exams – Intro and Format

INTRODUCTION AND FORMAT TO SHORT EXAMS

Important Details

You will take the exams on your laptop. You will need to install – and have working – the Safe Exam Browser. Take the “Practice Quiz” on Moode (under the Exams tab) to make sure it is working.

You cannot use any notes or resources while taking the exam (aside from your own brain).

I have written these as 30-minute exams. I’ll allow you a few extra minutes if you need. We will restart class at 2:45 to introduce the next part of the course.

Coverage and Organization

The exams will be one-part names-and-dates-and-details (historical knowledge, do you know your facts?) and one-part big ideas (historical interpretation, how should we think about the large questions of twentieth-century European history?).

Each exam will have three sections (see the format below).

How to Study

To review, you’ll want to read carefully though the study guide questions, using it as a reference as you review your class notes, the readings, and the online course notes. The questions will come directly out of this study guide. Study in groups, testing each other and yourselves as you go. Outline important examples and ideas. Be sure that you can identify—and say a few words about—the key terms, names,dates, and sources. Think about how to answer the questions of interpretation.

And a Few Suggestions

The exam asks you to be concise. You will want to choose your examples and details carefully, especially in the short answer and long answer sections.That said, you should make the most out of the time and space allowed. Sometimes, a few extra words will go a long way. If you have time after you have completed the exam, read through your answers. Then take a walk or get a drink of water and we will restart class at 2:45pm.

Good luck! Gks

Format for the Exam

Part 1. Very Short Answer (Recommended time: 5 minutes, 25% of grade)

In a word or a phrase, answer all twelve of the following questions. (I give you extra credit for more than 10 correct answers).

For example:

  1. Who wrote, in his artistic manifesto of 1909, that he and his fellow artists “will glorify war – the world’s only hygiene”?
  2. What was the name for the pre-war period in Imperial Germany that suggested wealth, securityand grandeur?

Part 2. Short Answer (Recommended time: 10 minutes. Two questions; choice of four. 25% of grade)

Answer two of the following questions with a paragraph of three or four sentences.

For example:

  1. How did the military campaign on the eastern front differ from the military campaign on the western front?
  2. According to Kershaw, what was the impact of the Versailles Treaty on the prospects for peace in postwar Europe?

Part 3. Long Answer (Recommended time: 15 minutes. One question; choice of two. 50% of grade)

Write a long answer of two or three full paragraphs to answer one of the following questions. Give concrete details from readings, lecture and/or discussion.

For example

  1. Did Europe “slither” or “sleepwalk” into war in 1914?
  2. Why did democracy fail in postwar Italy?