The Final Exam will be given on Thursday December 19 from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.  in James Blair Hall 223. The exam will comprise 2 (TWO) essays in which you will be asked to offer reasoned, argumentative responses to given claims.  The two claims on which you are expected to write will be chosen by the instructor from the list below.  Each essay will count for exactly 50% of the exam, and you are therefore advised to devote no more than 90 MINUTES to each. An ideal essay will consist of a clear argument, supported by plentiful evidence as well as sound reasoning, and will draw both from lectures and reading assignments.  Material and ideas taken from other classes or general knowledge will be considered, but priority will be given to material and ideas treated in History 101.  An ideal essay will also be nuanced and allow for the complexity of the historical phenomenon in question.  One way to write a nuanced argument is to be precise about the extent to which you agree or disagree with a given claim, rather than simply arguing pro or con.  Alternatively, you may wish to argue forcefully in favor or against a given statement, but in this case you should acknowledge and address possible counter-arguments.

1.  One of the greatest self-congratulatory myths about Western Civilization is that it is a humanistic civilization.  On the contrary, if humanism is understood as the belief that human beings can and should be masters of their fate, then the history of Western Civilization from ancient times to 1715 only confirms the virtual absence of this way of thinking.

2.  Western men subjugated women completely from ancient times to 1715.  During this period men managed to prevent women from having any control over or voice in politics, society or cultural and intellectual life.

3.  The desire to "civilize," convert or "correct" other people has been a crucial driving force in European history, and more than material greed or the lust for power motivated the wars Europeans fought and the foreign conquests they attempted from antiquity through the seventeenth century.

4.  One of the most distinctive features of Western Civilization from ancient times to 1715 was the pervasive sense that “this world” was corrupt or paltry and that a superior realm existed elsewhere, in some “beyond,” whether this was the world of the forms, or Heaven, or some Utopia.  Western thinkers disagreed about how or whether human beings could have access to such a superior realm, but it was always on their minds, and they were as a result consistently dissatisfied with the world they inhabited.

5.  In order to acquire and/or remain in power, Western rulers from ancient times to 1715 employed a single and uniform strategy: namely, to convince their subjects that they (the rulers) governed by divine right.  Whether they claimed to be gods themselves or simply asserted that God (or the gods) had chosen them to rule, they always aimed to legitimize their government by associating it with the will of heaven.  Similarly, those who opposed rulers were content to argue that they (the rulers) were usurpers whose government was illegitimate precisely because it was not desired by God (or the gods).  In other words, both rulers and ruled consistently agreed that legitimate government was identical with divinely-ordained government.

Common pitfalls to avoid:
1) repeated assertions without demonstration through specific examples
2) providing more detail than is necessary to prove a given point
3) relying exclusively on class notes at the expense of the readings
4) spending too much time on style and eloquence

You may bring a single sheet (8 1/2 X 11 inches) of notes, both sides of which may be covered, into the exam.

The final exam will count for 35% of your final grade.