HIST 103/SPRING 2018 – FINAL EXAM

HIST 103/SPRING 2018 – FINAL EXAM

Answer the questions below in three separate essays. Use lectures and the assigned readings

(textbook and primary sources) to craft your responses. Do NOT use outside sources. You will

not receive credit if you resort to outside sources, even if you cite them.

1. LONG ESSAY: Assume that you are invited to write a short entry on the non-Western civilization of your choice for a students’ encyclopedia. Given the specifics of the genre,

such entries must be clear, precise and focused. Limit your discussion to the following:

a. Location (and its consequences). b. A defining cultural characteristic. c. A key historical event or personality prior to the 19th century. d. Two crucial developments during the modern era (one in the 19th c, one in the 20th c). e. An assessment of its encounter with the West.

2. SHORT ESSAY ONE: Read carefully Gandhi’s appraisal of the West in his pamphlet Indian Home Rule. Do you agree or disagree with his views? Explain why. What do you think he

means by the assertion: “This [Western] civilization is such that one has only to be patient

and it will be self-destroyed”? What is your definition of the West?

3. SHORT ESSAY TWO: Briefly compare and contrast the definitions of the state provided by Lenin in The State and Revolution and Mussolini in Doctrine of Fascism. How are socialist

and fascist states different from the liberal state, and why do both authors reject capitalism

and democracy?

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Essay Format

The essays should be typed, 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins all around. Your name

should appear on all pages. A title page is not needed.

The exam is due on the Wednesday of the finals week, 05/02/2018. You will submit both a hard

copy to me and an electronic version to Turnitin.com. Further instructions will be given in class.

Please note that I will not grade any exam that has not been submitted to Turnitin.com.

Natalie Sherwan

HST 103 – Final Exam

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Guidelines

Please read the guidelines below before you start writing your exam. The issues listed under each

essay will be used as grading criteria for the content section.

1. LONG ESSAY. The essay should be based on the information covered in this class and recorded in your non-Western civilization report. As you select the key features/events to

discuss, keep in mind the role of geography and religion in shaping that civilization.

Do NOT summarize! DISCUSS means INTERPRET, so you should provide:

– reasons (why is that particular issue that you have chosen a defining feature? why is that particular personality or event significant?)

– explanations (how and why things happened? what was the course of action?) – outcomes (what were the short- and long-term consequences? why does it matter to us

today?)

If you just bring together data without any analysis, you will end up with an inadequate

historical essay. The information entered in our report is there to guide your argument. Use it

critically!

Suggested max. length: 3-4 pages

2. SHORT ESSAY ONE. Your essay should: – briefly present Gandhi’s views on the West and set them in their historical context. – explain why you agree or disagree with him & engage his claim that Western civilization

is self-destructive.

– define the West according to your own understanding (N.B. This section requires you to give an informed opinion on the West as a historical concept. Base your definition on

what we have studied in this class. Do not write some vague description of what you

“feel” the West is or is not).

You may write this essay as a response-letter to Gandhi, but make sure you tackle the points

mentioned above.

Suggested max. length: 2 pages

3. SHORT ESSAY TWO. Your essay should indicate an understanding of the following concepts: Lenin’s “dictatorship of the proletariat;” Mussolini’s “the state creates the nation;”

liberalism; capitalism; democracy.

Suggested max. length: 2 pages