The test is designed to last 50 minutes. You may have until 10:55 if you need it, but after that we must vacate the classroom for the next class.

Please bring a Blue Book or plenty of blank paper to write on. Bring more than one pen. Please leave any purple, magenta, chartreuse, etc. pens at home. Professors who already have dodgy vision from numerous late-night grading sessions tend to be in a better mood when they see blue or black ink.

This test will be based on the assumption that you have come to class regularly, taken decent notes, and that you have read carefully Chapters 1-5 in AG, the material by Homer and Aristotle in the reading packet, the material about Pheidon on E-res and Plutarch's biographies of Theseus, Solon and Themistocles. Sound like a huge mass of material? Don't be overwhelmed. The questions I ask you will deal with important things. I won't try to trick you by pulling out minor, obscure details. Start by skimming back over the textbook chapters. Make note of the section headings in bold face, and read more carefully the sections under headings that don't sound too familiar. Review your reading notes and your class notes. Check out the class outlines that I've put on the Web. Spend at least 40% of your study time outlinining answers to the essay questions and deciding upon what specific facts and examples you're going to use to support the assertions you make in your essays. Allocate the rest of your study time in a manner that keeps in mind the point-value of the various sections (for example, don't spend a huge amount of time trying to get the map identification nailed down; it will be worth at most 8% of your grade!). Good luck, and contact me by phone or e-mail if you have questions.

Part I: Short answer (60%): Questions from 1 to 5 points in value depending on the length or complexity of the response required. For part of this section (no more than 8%) you will be asked to locate places on a map out of the following list:
 
 

And if you know what's important about all of the following items (including, where appropriate, location, date and other associated details) then you'll have no problem with MOST (not necessarily all) of the remaining questions. Those items below marked with an asterisk (*) are ones which may be the subject of 5-point questions, so make sure you know them particularly well. Do NOT spend all your study time trying to learn every detail about the rest. Save some time for preparing your essays.
 
 
 
 

Part II: Essay (60%). At least four essay topics will appear on the exam; you will be asked to choose ONE. The following are some of the general areas that essay topics might deal with. THESE ARE NOT THE ACTUAL ESSAY QUESTIONS! and not all of these topics will appear on the exam. But if you prepare for at least three of these questions, then a question relating to at least one of them will certainly show up. Your essay will not be graded on length, but instead on how completely you address the question, on the number, pertinence and accuracy of the facts and specific examples cited to support your assertions, on clarity of organization and expression. Grades in the "A" range will be reserved for essays that display, in addition to these qualities, a capacity for independent and critical thinking.

1. How did the climate, geography and natural resources of Greece influence the development of civilization from the Stone age to the Archaic age?

2. How did contact with non-Greeks, whether as a result of trade, colonization, or warfare, influence the course of Greek civilization from the Bronze Age to the period of the Persian Wars.

3. Compare and contrast the development of Athens and Sparta and other Greek city-states during the Late Geometric and Archaic ages. What reasons might there be for the similarities and for the differences?

4. What effects did changes in technology, materials (Bronze, Iron, etc.) and/or military practices have on the course of Greek civilization

5. Evaluate our sources for early Greek History. Can we know anything for certain about people and periods such as Theseus and the Trojan Wars, or about Lykourgos, Pheidon and Solon, or is it all a hopeless muddle of legend and fairy tale?

6. How and why did Athenian democracy develop? How different was it from other forms of Greek government of the period and how trully democratic was it?