1. It will cover everything—the main readings, e-texts, my online lectures—through
the first four weeks (includes Bradford & Winthrop).
2. There will be 20 questions = 100 points = 1/3rd of 20% of the
total course grade.
3. The questions are intended to capture whether you’ve intelligently read
the materials. Memorization of facts, as it were, won’t help you much. “Studying”
won’t either. Either you’ve read thoughtfully, or you haven’t.
4. After each exam is taken, I carefully look at performance patterns to
make sure there were no inadvertent faulty/unfair questions. I do not
curve scores, but do adjust as necessary by throwing out “bad” questions,
if the performance pattern reveals such (e.g., if the top quartile of
students do not get the “bad” question around 70% of the time). So,
please be reassured, although there will be a mix of easy and hard
questions, I conduct a post-exam review to weed out exam-question outliers
should there be any.
5. The exam will take ½ hour. Then we’ll watch a film.
6. Practice
questions are below:
Practice
Questions for Exam#1
1. Vespucci may best be
understood as having:
A
sentimental understanding of native/indigenous "New World"
cultures, almost a "fatherly" regard for these peoples who were
destined to come under European domination and sway.
A
ruthless, militaristic attitude, seeing indigenous lands (and peoples)
for the European taking, and not being worthy of his curiosity (their
ways of being, cultural habits, dress, etc).
Clearly
inferior to the norms of European social order, and likely easy to
subjugate, but also worthy of some proto-anthropological observation.
Vespucci
didn't "see" the natives at all; he was reporting at second
hand entirely.
2. Montaigne:
Being one
of the most cosmopolitan scholars of his era, traveled throughout Europe
as well as the burgeoning New World. This is why he could so aptly
contrast European and New World cultures.
Being
something of an idealist and yet also a critic, tended to see New World
culture as having many virtues that his own European culture lacked.
Being a
non-philosophical, empirical scientist, simply objectively described his
own European culture in contrast to "New World" cultures.
Being
"married" (actually the woman was a concubine) to a Caribbean
princess, naturally tended to look on indigenous New World peoples rather
favorably.
3. Columbus is shocked by the rampant
evidence of cannibalism in the primitive cultures he encounters.
True False
4. In the picture/engraving of
Vespucci, what does NOT appear:
A
reclining barely clad woman, sitting up, looking at Vespucci.
A
leg/torso being roasted on the flames, off in the distance in about the
middle of the engraving.
Various
"New World" animals.
A native,
offering Vespucci an elaborate/ornate pipe (which we can assume has
tobacco in it).
5. Montaigne truly cares about
indigenous cultures.