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October 14, 2009
Ah - midterms.
I am giving a midterm.
Yes, even as I type my European Studies 101 (Antiquity to the Renaissance) students are writing busily for 55 minutes.
I have the laptop with me and am watching them think.
This is a typical identify-the-quotation-and-comment test. What makes it mine, different from when folks from other departments teach it, is that there are 3 or 4 images on the test to consider either in their cultural context or in comparison to a specific text. For instance, we do a day (a day and a half, this year) on the Parthenon to go along with Pericles and the Melian Dialogue. It's useful to see what those Athenians spent the treasure of the Delian League building - and to figure out how much MARBLE it would have taken.
Likewise, when we look at the Code of Hammurabi we look at the Stele of Hammurabi. Right up there at the top is Hammurabi receiving his authority (though not written tablets of the law) from Marduk. That's a useful image to discuss.
Wish them luck!
Posted by CrankyProfessor at October 14, 2009 10:12 AM
Comments
I hope your students did better on their midterm than mine did on their term paper abstracts.
One of the professors in my department always includes one or two images in the identification section of his exams (otherwise all terms), perhaps a picture of a composer or famous character. It generally makes the students smile a little in the midst of their stress.
Posted by: JaneC at October 29, 2009 3:26 AM