HUM 221: Values (Attention, Kmart shoppers ... midterm writers)

I promised you some heavy-duty, industrial-strength hints about what's going to be on the midterm ... which is in class Monday, March 5. It'll be an essay test, open book (which means you can bring in notes, use the Internet, just about anything short of bringing in a ringer to write it for you)!

If we're still having trouble with the wireless connection, BTW, you might think about photocopying the stuff ¥ou need from the Internet.

There will be three questions. All essay questions.

A 50-pointer. I don't have the question framed yet, but it will have something to do with the "First Thanksgiving" myth and the webpages on values of the Haudenesaunee people, Alaska Natives and especially a page from Blue Cloud Abbey in South Dakota on the differences between Lakota and European-American values. What were the Pilgrim's values expressed in the historical fact, in the legend? What were (are) the Wampanoag people's regarding Thanksgiving. What purpose does the myth serve in helping us sort out our values now as 21st century Americans?

A "self-reflective" 25-point question. In this one, you talk about what you knew about Native American cultures when you started the class, what you know now (clearest point so far) and what you want to learn next (or the most confusing point). Here's what I say in a tip sheet on reflective essays linked to my faculty page. (You can find it way down on the blue page, under "Writing and Editing" links. It mentions other courses I teach, since it's written for all my students, but you can adapt it to our course content in HUM 221:

A "content" course is a course in which you learn about a subject area -- like American Indian cultures and the history of their interaction with European-Americans, for example, or the basic principles of advertising and public relations. So you focus on the course objectives: What did you know about the mass media, U.S. history, the newspaper business, advertising, public relations or integrated marketing strategies at the beginning of the semester? What, specificaly, do you know at the end? What, specifically, have you learned? How does it fit in with what you already knew, as a media consumer or a college student?

To get ready for this, think about what we've learned so far. What was the clearest point? What still needs to be explained?

A second 25-pointer. This one will have something to do with the Trail of Death. What does the information we read in class, especially the Sangamo Journal article from 1838, tell you about the attitudes of European-Americans toward the Potowatami people at the time of the march, and during the commemorations in recent years? How have attitudes changed? What does this history tell you about America as a multicultural society?

Extra credit? Sometimes I'll add a goofy little question to see if people have been listening in class. Sometimes not.

You'll be writing a lot in class Monday ... 750 words (2-3 pages typewritten) on the 50-point question and 250 words (1 to 1-1/2 pages) on the 25-pointers. To study for this kind of test, read over the material and be ready to find it fast so you can quote it when you start writing. These midterm essays are like English 111 essays -- if you make a point, you have to back it up with facts. Unsupported generalizations are sudden death in college writing.