HIST 4043                                                                                                                                                                                                   Fall 2009

Final Exam: Revised Options

Posted November 30 at 10:15 AM

The final exam consists of two take-home essays.  The topics given below will be included; the professor may choose to add additional options.  If that happens, the options will be available on the course website. All papers should be in the range of five to ten pages and should demonstrate a command of all the relevant material from the class.

Do one of the option under part A and one of the options under Part B.

Part A

            Option 1.  After reading the diverse materials about the period around 1900, would you say that one can meaningfully refer to a “Progressive Era”?  Or is the scene too complex to be seen as unified? Your paper should be in the range of five to ten pages, and should show a command of material from several readings – including primary sources – in Weeks 7-12.

            Option 2.  Prepare a critical book review of Atlantic Crossings.

            Option 3.    Revisit Second Critical Review/Supplementary Topics. You had a total of four choices for that assignment.  You may select any of the three you did not choose then and do it now.

Part B

            Option 1.  Is Jens Soering a reformer or a self-serving convict?  Discuss his book Church of the Second Chance and compare him with reformers from at least two different eras. Take into account his personal story and situation; Eisner’s book Gates of Injustice; and relevant material in such books as American Reformers; Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X; and Liberating Visions.

            Option 2.  Discuss the calls of Eisner and Soering for change in American corrections in light of at least one earlier reform era (antebellum or Progressive).  Identify major differences and similarities between issues, eras, reform movements, etc.  Be alert for enduring problems such as racism and economic justice.

            Option 3.  How might Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., evaluate the United States in 2009 – a country which has an African-American president but also has millions of prisoners, many of them African-American?  Would they have to revise their analyses of America and modify their calls for change?  Be specific.  Make extensive use of relevant materials in Weeks 13-16.