Another quiet weekend under our belts...Drew and I had a drink together last night to catch up after not seeing much of each other through his 24 hours on the clock over the weekend, and started talking about the Virginia Primary tomorrow and the apathy and disenchantment that people our age are expressing towards the government and the voting process in general. Drew talked about a lack of love of knowledge (a lack of opportunity, mostly) these days almost because "knowledge" is too readily available. Learning opportunities have become lackluster? The glorious internet has perhaps taken away as much as it provides, in that people assume that the knowledge is there, so there's no need to worry about putting it in the old dome too. I am the most guilty on this front, as I can access the internet from my phone and so I am constantly looking things up, checking the weather and generally allowing myself to forget information because I don't ever have to worry about being too far away from it. This mentality is both remarkable in its seemingly progressive nature, and is also terrifying to think how easily we can become sheep to generalized idea making without the concrete pursuit of facts. This conversation led back to discussing the whole voting process and how people are voting for buzzwords and platforms rather than unity and leadership, thinking that we can't help but merrily follow along. At any rate, this morning in my inbox I read an e-mail that Mom sent me about 8th grade educations and laughed a little thinking that maybe Drew and I aren't so far off the money in thinking that education is becoming more and more about teaching students how to thrive in society over teaching them about all facets of the society itself. Anyway, this is the e-mail, give the test a look--it sure made me look a bunch of things up (on google--ha!)
Remember when our grandparents, great-grandparents, and such stated that they only had an 8th grade education?
Well, check this out. - - -
This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , KS , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , KS , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.
8th GRADE FINAL EXAM
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no Modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb. Give Principal Parts of. lie, lay and run
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.
Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at
50cts/bushel, deducting 1050lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a v aluation of $35,000. What is the nece ss ary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
8 Find bank discount on $300 for! 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance
around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.
U. S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U. S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus .
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States .
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas .
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell , Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.
Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two
exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane,
fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.
Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America .
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver,
Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall &Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in th e same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.
Yikes! Can I take this one home, consult the internet for my answers, and get it back to you tomorrow? Happy voting!
Posted by: ashley | February 11, 2008 at 05:05 PM
Yikes! Can I take this one home, consult the internet for my answers, and get it back to you tomorrow? Happy voting!
Posted by: ashley | February 11, 2008 at 05:05 PM