Midterm essay
Humanities
H105 Take-Home Midterm: Due Friday, March 1 This exam consists of two parts:
a primary source analysis and an essay question. You have the option to choose from three primary sources to analyze, and three essay questions to answer. You will select ONE option for each part. In order to complete this midterm, use the assigned readings, lecture slides, and your lecture notes to answer the questions below. No outside sources (sources not assigned in the class) may be used for this exam. There is, however, one exception to this rule: as noted in the syllabus, if you would like additional context or another narrative of the material we cover in class, you are welcome to consult American Yawp, a free online textbook collaboratively written by historians. A successful exam will: Demonstrate careful attention to the exam prompts and instructions. Have clear and specific responses to the exam prompts. Make ample use of evidence from readings, lecture slides, and lecture notes to support your arguments. An unsuccessful exam will: Not respond to or satisfy the exam prompts and instructions. Have unclear, vague, or inaccurate responses to the exam prompts. Contain arguments that are unsupported by evidence from the course material. PART 1: Primary Source Analysis: 40 points (out of 100) Analyze ONE of the following primary sources. Your analysis should address the following questions: • Approximately when was the source produced and what is the broader historical context in which the source was produced? • Who was its author? • Who was the author’s intended audience and what was author’s purpose? • What is the larger significance of the source for understanding U.S. history? Why does this source matter? Richard Hakluyt Makes the Case for English Colonization (hyperlinked here, also linked in syllabus) Olaudah Equiano Describes the Middle Passage (hyperlinked here, also linked in syllabus) The Destruction of Thomas Hutchinson’s House (Primary Source 6.5, also up on Canvas) PART 2: Essay Question (60 points out of 100) Answer ONE of the following questions in a clearly organized, persuasively argued essay based on lectures and readings. Your essay should include a clearly stated thesis, and it should support its claims with evidence from lectures and readings. 1. Compare and contrast the first colonies in Jamestown and Massachusetts. In what ways were the goals of the Jamestown and Massachusetts colonists similar, and in what ways were they different? Support your argument with specific examples from Chapter Three in your textbook and lectures. 2. How and why did the regime of slavery change in the decades before the 1660s and after? In addition to the textbook and lectures, some useful sources include the Virginia Laws of Servitude and Slavery (hyperlinked in syllabus), as well as the stories of Anthony Johnson (textbook/lecture) and Elizabeth Key (lecture). 3. What role did Puritan-Indigenous warfare play in the Salem Witch Trials? In addition to the textbook and lectures, some useful sources include the American Portrait of Mercy Lewis and the excerpt from More Wonders of the Invisible World (primary source 4.5, on Canvas).
