Final Exam Prompts:
Please note:
You will be required to write about six DIFFERENT historical figures total in the two essays (one that we examined BEFORE the midterm and five that were assigned AFTER the midterm). Anyone you include in your first essay cannot be one of the three people discussed in your second essay. You are allowed to write about any person you used in your midterm, however.
There are a few historical figures that we examined in lectures but were not the focus of the readings (e.g., Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and Althea Gibson). For essay #1, each of your three people you select must be highlighted in the reading assignments (i.e., those whose names appear on the syllabus). However, in your second essay, ONE of the three figures you write about may be someone discussed at length in lecture only, such as Johnson, Louis, or Gibson.
ESSAY #1
The historical figures we discussed in the first half of the class faced and struggled against challenges and injustices related to colonialism, slavery, Apartheid, and the age of lynching. For the most part, the historical figures we studied in the second half of the class lived AFTER the periods of colonialism, slavery, Apartheid and the age of lynching. Choose ONE PRE-MIDTERM historical actor and imagine they had the opportunity to observe the lives of TWO POST-MIDTERM FIGURES. Based upon what we learned about the pre-midterm person, analyze what you think her/his reaction would be to the post-midterm historical figures. Your analysis should focus on at least one of the following questions:
In what ways would the pre-midterm person see positive change in the lives of the post-midterm figures? In what ways would the pre-midterm person see similarities between his/her own realities, challenges, struggles, or opportunities and those of the post-midterm figures?
In what ways would the pre-midterm person approve or disapprove of the strategies, philosophies, beliefs, actions, or attitudes adopted by the two post-midterm actors in response to the realities, challenges, struggles, or opportunities they faced in their world?
Be sure to use evidence/examples from the readings, lectures, and if necessary, the documentary for all three historical figures. As stated above, on this essay each of the three figures discussed must be names that appear on the syllabus, not in lecture only.
ESSAY #2
Black athletes and musicians typically are perceived as distinct from the average person in their communities. First of all, as athletic and musical “entertainers”, there is often a debate about whether or not they should engage in social, racial, and political issues. Secondly, as celebrities and idols to people from multiple racial, class, and national backgrounds, they are often considered to have “crossover” appeal and acceptance in ways that other blacks rarely do.
Choose three black athletes or musicians that we examined in this class (from the readings or lectures) and one non-athlete or musician. Using examples from the readings, lectures, and, if necessary, the documentary, argue how each of them help to prove or disprove the notion that cultural and/or sport icons/entertainers can bring about social, political, economic, or racial change in their societies. In other words, can such celebrities be agents of change in ways that has impact on their professions only, or can they actually be agents of change in broader society?
Please remember that the three figures examined in this essay CANNOT be the same as those written about in essay #1.
