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 40% 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.