The first exam will consist of ten short answer
questions (4-5 sentences each, 50% of test grade) and one long essay
(50%).
Be prepared to answer questions on any of the material covered in
class:
the readings from your texts and from handouts, online
selections,
as well as lecture content and film clips.
ESSAY QUESTION
You will receive one of three questions below on the essay
section.
You will not know which one of the three will be on the exam, so study
for all of them. Some pointers: answer the question as directly
and
clearly as possible. Be sure to address all the components of the
question. Remember to integrate the relevant reading and lecture
material to support your argument. Always avoid vague
generalizations.
Refer to specific events, policies, groups, ideas and individuals in
your
answers. Blue paper will be provided for your longer essay.
Do not make any markings, outlines, or notes on scratch paper prior to
the exam.
1. Describe the variety of
experiences white Europeans--Catholics and Protestants--had with
indigenous peoples. How successful were European newcomers in
their missions to Indians? Give
sufficient evidence to support your claims.
2. Write an essay describing the
complicated religious world of 17th
century Puritans. What does historian David Hall mean when he argues
that
Puritans lived in an enchanted universe and a “world of wonders”?
Discuss how this challenges earlier views of American Puritanism.
3. In America’s God, Mark
Noll asserts that Christianity in the
United States began to take on a distinctively American cast by the
1800s.
According to Noll, what distinguished American Protestantism from
European
Protestantism? Are his claims valid? Use evidence from the
course readings to bolster your argument.
TERMS, NAMES, IDEAS
Be prepared to provide a four to five sentence synopsis of any of the
below items. If you are familiar with the terms and names below,
it should help you considerably on the exam. Remember, it is best to
know
the “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why” of these. The “why”
or the significance of any term or name is most
important.
Jesuits
Puritans
regional differences in North American religion
Slave religion in colonial America
The Exodus story in Afro-American religion
The significance of dreams for Native American spirituality
Reverend David Brainerd
Sephardim Jews in colonial America
John Winthrop
Religious pluralism in colonial New York
Religion and the founding of America
Anne Hutchinson
Jonathan Edwards
George Whitefield
Mark Noll’s concept of the “American Synthesis”
Reform Judaism
Declension
Revivalism
Joseph Smith
The use of scripture by proslavery advocates and abolitionists
Anne Braude on women's history and American religious history
Abolitionism as a moral crusade
The Second Great Awakening and the democratization of American
Christianity
Phoebe Palmer
Premillennialism
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