You will be required to write your exam in a Blue Book. Blue Books are available in the campus bookstore.
1) Multiple choice section: (20 questions, 10-15 minutes, 60 points). Multiple choice questions will tend to revolve around these terms in one way or another. Knowing the approximate date, circumstances and general importance of each of these terms will also aid you in writing your essay and putting your primary sources into context. The multiple choice section is the only section of the exam to be graded on a curve.
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Diet
of Worms Niccolo Machiavelli John Calvin Philip
II/Spanish Armada Ulrich
Zwingli Suliman the Magnificent Peace of Augsburg Anabaptists Swabian Peasants Revolt, 1524 Ignatius Loyola/Jesuits St.
Bartholomew's Day Massacre Henry of Navarre Council
of Trent Elizabeth I politiques/Jean
Bodine Thirty Years' War Treaty
of Westphalia
War
of Spanish Succession Louis
XIV William
of Orange (William III) The
Fronde Versailles John
Churchill Frederick
II (the Great) Rene
Descartes |
Oliver Cromwell mercantilism
English
Civil War Cardinal
Richelieu James
I John
Locke Glorious
Revolution Isaac
Newton Charles I Seven Years' War Galileo Francis
Bacon philosophes Voltaire Adam
Smith sugar slave
trade Louis
XVI Jean-Jacques
Rousseau Jacques
Turgot Count
of Olivares Copernicus
physiocrats American
Revolution French
Revolution |
2) Source identification section: (10 minutes, 40 points). On the exam you will find two short, characteristic passages taken from two of the primary historical sources you have read prior to the test. You will choose one of these passages and to the best of your ability identify the author, the document, the date, and the significance or importance of the document. You should note that it is not necessary to precisely identify the author, document, or date, but it IS necessary to establish the type of document, the type of person or movement that produced it, and the larger significance and context of the source to an understanding of the development of medieval culture, society, and/or politics. Click here for an example of such a Source ID.
3) Essay I: (30 minutes, 100 points)
Write an essay on Voltaire's Letters on England. You may choose from one of the two following questions. You must utilize evidence from the book to support your argument in this essay, making clear and detailed reference to at least TWO of Voltaire's "letters" (chapters) in your essay. The essay will be written in class without outlines or notes. If you fail to incorporate clear (named) references to at least two of the "letters," your essay grade will be reduced by 20%
1) Voltaire has been labeled by some as the father of the Enlightenment, and in his lifetime always emphasized that literature should be a means of teaching. Voltaire's Letters on England was one of the most influential early Enlightenment publications which aimed to teach the French how better to govern themselves and live their lives. What do Voltaire's Letters suggest about "enlightened" religious behavior? about the best forms of government? What principles should govern society? If you consider the Letters as a manifesto of the Enlightenment, what are its most central tenets?
2) Voltaire was one of the chief links between the earlier intellectual movement known as the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. In his Letters, Voltaire sought to explain English philosophical and scientific beliefs and hold them up as models for modern thought. What was so laudable in the work and beliefs of Bacon, Locke, and Newton? How could their work contribute to a better world? is there an implicit criticism of the old society in Voltaire's praise of these men? does their example suggest an "Enlightenment" program for change?
4) Essay II: (50 minutes, 150 points) One of the following two questions will appear on the exam sheet. You will write an essay answering this question in class without outlines or notes and ideally will incorporate at least two clear--preferably detailed and well synthesized--references to primary sources (you must refer to document title and/or author) taken from our readings and relevant to the topic. If you fail to incorporate clear (named) references to at least two of the historical sources in your essay, your essay grade will be reduced by 20%
A) It has been said that Martin Luther struck the spark that lit the religious tinder box of Europe.
Write an essay in which you describe the growth of the Protestant Reformation movement from its early roots in the Christian humanist movement, but paying special attention to Luther and Calvin. Be certain to comment on the social and political aspects of the Reformation, as well as the theological ones. Finally, comment briefly on the different impact that the Reformation and Counter-Reformation had on two major European areas, choosing from Germany, France, Spain and England.
B) The Seventeenth Century was a period of great turmoil in Europe. Out of this troubled time many of the characteristic economic, political, and intellectual patterns that we recognize as being fundamentally modern emerged.
Write an essay in which you detail the economic and political roots of the Seventeenth Century Crisis (ca. 1620-1660), taking into account the experience of at least two western European nations. Try to account for these troubles theoretically and relate them to the major political upheavals of the century. Also detail how European thought changed under the influence of the Scientific Revolution and early Enlightenment. In conclusion, describe how Europe had changed economically, politically, and intellectually by the beginning decades (ca. 1720) of the eighteenth century. The essay will be written in class without outlines or notes and must incorporate at least two clear--preferably detailed--references to primary sources taken from our readings and relevant to the topic.