Final Exam Roman History Solved
The final exam will have a section of 20 multiple-choice questions (40% of the grade) and one long essay (60%). All possible essay prompts are provided below. On the exam, two of these prompts will be given as options. You will respond to only one. The wording of the prompts may change slightly on the exam.
You should write the essay with your own analysis and with specific details from the textbook chapters, lectures, and (when relevant) primary source documents. Your essay should make an argument. It should also present information from around the world (and from the entire second half of the semester), not simply information concerning a narrow topic.
Your goal is both to write an original and thoughtful response to the prompt and to demonstrate how much factual material you have learned. Remember the Three Cs as a way to include plenty of information: You want to write about change (and its causes), make comparisons, and identify connections.
I. “As much as we obsess over ‘globalization’ in the early twenty-first century, globalization is not really new. The same forces have been at work since at least the 1700s. Present-day globalization is a matter of degree, not fundamental change.” Respond to this claim. (A good answer will explain the concept[s] of globalization, identify ways human society has become more or less global since the eighteenth century, identify key examples and turning points from around the world, and explain how and why the world situation has changed over time.)II. “The most important cause of human conflict since the late 1700s has been belief, not economic interest. Different social classes or nations don’t fight each other; different worldviews do.” Respond to this claim. (A good answer will examine different kinds of conflict from around the world and throughout the second half of the course, including not only various wars but also other kinds of struggle, and will make a clear argument about causes and effects.)
III. “Although humanity has grown increasingly powerful and wealthy since the late 1700s, this does not represent true ‘progress.’ In fundamental ways, the world has actually become worse.” Respond to this claim. (A good answer will discuss different possible meanings of “progress” or “worsening,” key events and experiences from around the world and from throughout the second half of the course, and factors that apply to different kinds of people. It will include large amounts of factual information and historical interpretation, not mere generalization about the state of the world today.)