Final Exam - Connecticut History
Choose three of the following and answer them in about two pages each (typed double-spaced or written single-spaced). You may not choose the same person or event to talk about twice. Make sure to include quotes to back up your opinions, and cite them properly. Since this is a take home exam, I expect the same level of work as the research paper.
1. Choose two of the people we've talked or read about and compare their effects on the state of Connecticut, and the effects of living here on them.
2. In Homegrown Terror: Benedict Arnold and the Burning of New London we can see how Arnold was connected to various other Connecticut people. Explain the different relationships he had with Jonathan Trumbull, Nathaniel Shaw, or Eleazar Oswald.
3. Explain how Marilyn Nelson's use of poetry in The Freedom Business to interpret history changes Venture Smith's original story, and changes our perception of history itself.
4. Explain one of the problems with writing, reading, and interpreting history, using two or more examples from the class.
5. Compare two of the people from Bridgeport: Tales from the Park City. How were the ways they achieved their goals different and/or the same?
6. Take one of the many events in Connecticut history we've talked about and explain what it shows about the character of the people and/or the specific geography of the land itself.