Scarpino/Torrella

H106

Study Questions for Exam #2

Directions: Two of these questions will appear on the exam. You will be required to answer one (1). Answers should include appropriate examples from lectures, readings, and class discussions. YOU MUST TAKE THE EXAM IN A BLUE BOOK THAT WE PROVIDE; IT MUST HAVE A HISTORY DEPARTMENT STAMP ON THE FRONT.

I will be happy to check one or two outlines per student. While I will not write (or rewrite) answers, I will tell you whether or not you are headed in the right direction. I will also be pleased to talk to you about the readings or lectures or to answer questions about the class.

Please keep the following in mind: Good essays answer the entire question by drawing on appropriate material from the lectures and the readings. An effective essay is well organized, clear, and persuasive. SUMMARIZE means that you briefly state the main points. ANALYZE means write an answer that is fully developed with major points, supporting points, and examples from the lectures and readings.

Office Hours:

Torrella: Tuesday, April 4 11 - 2:00pm; Wednesday, April 5, 11 - 1:00pm and 4 - 5:30pm; Thursday, April 6, 11 - 2:00pm; and by appointment

Scarpino: Tues., April 4, 1-2:00 pm; Wednesday, April 5, 12:30-1:30 & 3:30-4:30; and by appt.

1. In the Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck states: "In the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage (p.477)." In a single clearly written paragraph, summarize the meaning of this statement. Analyze this statement by focusing on the New Deal's Agricultural Adjustment Act and considering: (a) What were the conditions of American agriculture that prompted Congress to pass and the President to sign, the AAA? (b) What were its goals? [c] What were its successes? (d) Who benefitted? Why? (e) Who did not benefit? Why? (Good answers will use examples from The Grapes of Wrath and your text, especially Chapter 25.)

2. Summarize the approaches used by Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt to meet the crisis of the depression. Analyze the failures of the first New Deal in terms of relieving suffering and stimulating recovery. (See: Lectures and Text, Chapter 25, for Hoover.)

3. Analyze the following: (2) the ways in which radical challengers to the New Deal reflected failures of the First New Deal; and (2) responses to these radical challenges in the form of the legislation and programs of the Second New Deal. (See Text, especially Chapter 25; Note that Grapes of Wrath may be interpreted as a “radical” challenge to the New Deal.)

4. After the U.S. declared war on the Central Powers in April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson publicly expressed confidence, but privately he had fears about the unintended and uncontrollable consequences of going to war. At one point Wilson said, "once lead this people into war and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance." Summarize the meaning of Wilson’s statement, in terms of the relative tolerance of the Progressive period. Analyze Wilson's statement in terms of the following: (a) "the war for America's mind,” (b) the Red Scare, and [c] the legacy of intolerance that characterized the 1920s. (See text, especially Chapters 23 and 24.)