425 midterm

Without further ado, the fall 2011 425 midterm...



History 425
Midterm exam
For October 17, 2011


Directions part I(50%): Prepare BOTH of the following questions, using material gleaned from lectures, videos and any outside reading you have done. Be careful to structure your essay in an organized way and provide specific names, dates, facts, etc., to support the points you make. You are encouraged to work together in formulating answers, but each person should be sure the essay he/she writes is his/her own work. You will do ONE of these, but you won’t know WHICH one until test day, so prepare both unless you are clairvoyant!



a)It is often said of great cities that geography is destiny. Write an essay in which you discuss the impact of geography on the development of New York from its inception to the present day. Be sure to be specific and take into account man-made geographical features as well as natural ones.



b) Immediately after the September 11 attacks, New Yorkers mourned the demise of the World Trade Center towers as if they had always been a beloved part of the city’s landscape. The reality is more complicated. Why were they built, and who was for and against them? Why? What accounted for their “catching on” in the difficult years after their construction? Finally, what made them a tempting target for 21st century extremists?



Directions part II(50%) Mystery question. Here you will answer a question based on David von Drehle’s book on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. I will NOT ask you about the contents of page 225 or anything like that—it will be something with which you should have no trouble if you know the background of the fire generally and are familiar with the major players in the book.