Sample Mid-Term Questions
Below are two questions that should give you an idea of the sorts of things you will be asked to discuss in a short essay for the upcoming mid-term exam.
- In lecture I described the way that people in literate societies – people like us – more or less automatically work out abstract questions by using a form of thinking known as categorical analysis. Explain what this means by way of some good examples. In your view, what are the advantages of categorical reasoning? What might be some of the drawbacks?
- “Embedded in every tool is an ideological bias, a predisposition to construct the world as one thing rather than another, to value one thing over another, to amplify one sense or skill or attitude more loudly than another.” So claims Neil Postman in the essay The Judgment of Thamus. What do you think is the main point that Postman is making here? Please give at least one good example to illustrate your answer.
For the essay section you will pick one topic from a list of three or four.
The short answer section will provide you with a list of key concepts drawn from lectures and readings. In this section you will be expected to define, distinguish, and illustrate some central concepts. For example:
· Explain the difference between paradigm and syntagm. Provide a good example for each.
· Explain the difference between denotation and connotation. Give a cogent illustration to show the difference.
The short section will ask you to answer four out of a list of five or six.