Study Tips for Midterm

The exam will cover two class periods. You will have an FRQ and DBQ on Monday and an 80 question multiple choice test on Thursday.

Multiple Choice

Go over past tests and quizzes but not for memorization of that exact question. You must know WHY the one answer is right and WHY the others are close, but wrong.

For example:

Which of the following is true of the case of Marbury v. Madison?
a. It established that the Congress had the sole right to formulate national legislation.
This is wrong because the case had to do with appointments of judges
b. It supported Thomas Jefferson in his claim to have "executive review."
This one is the sneakiest one because it has Jefferson, who was president when this case was decided and the word "review," but it is wrong because it isn't about the presidency
c. It backed William Marbury in his request for a bank charter
This is wrong because it is confused Marbury's case with McCulloch v Maryland and the bank issue both were decided by John Marshall (Federalist chief justice)
d. It affirmed the principle of judicial review
This is right because it has to do with defining (expanding really) the job of the Supreme Court
e. It determined the Senate's right to "advise and consent"
This is wrong but I think the test writer is trying to make me think this is right because it is so similar to answer "A" but both are wrong. I hate it when test writers do that. They think they are so sneaky...I'll show them.
______________

I would also try to think of as many connections I can make to the case (i.e. John Marshall, midnight judges, John Adams, Federalists, Democratic-Republicans, T. Jefferson, etc) and I would place the event in a time line.

Essays

The essays require a little different strategy in terms of studying because you need to put "ideas" together. This midterm will only cover the Gilded Age through World War II for the essays (multiple choice is the whole enchilada 1607-1945) which allows you to focus on specific time periods and their overall significance. The essays fall into two categories generally-"compare and contrast" and "change over time"

One way to study for this is to try to think of the names/dates of the time periods, the people who were important, the events that occurred during the time period and the historical significance of the time period (i.e. the period between 1820-1861 is significant because it showed the national crisis created over the issue of slavery).

-Why is the Gilded Age given that name? Is it an accurate description?
-Was the Progressive Era a sign of true "progress"? What arguments can you make for both sides?
-Did the Progressive Era really solve the issues of Gilded Age industrialization?
-If I charted US foreign policy in terms of interventionism vs isolationism throughout this time period, what would that chart look like and what were the major causes of those shifts? (1898-1941)
-Why did we enter each war when we did? What other factors besides the immediate one's (sinking of the Maine, the Zimmerman telegram, Pearl Harbor) were at work?
-How much is the rise of media responsible for the way we view the 1920s today? How many people were actually "roaring" and how many were not?
-How did the choices made in the 1920s help cause the Great Depression? (There is a great article on this in today's New York Times. Click here to link to it.)
-Did the New Deal end the Great Depression? Remember these answers, like most of life's answers, are rarely simple. Be sure to reflect the complexity in your answer.
-How did the home front respond to the challenges of World War II?
-Many people call World War II a "just war." Is this true? What arguments can you make on both sides?

Another way to study for this is to create mind maps to see how many connections you can make between people, events, inventions, and ideas.

Also, use the mass email list to ask questions or create a study group where each member makes a different time line). Doesn't that sound like fun?! Spring Break '08!