Midterm Exam
Choose three questions and write brief essays (roughly 3-4 paragraphs) that address the questions that are posed about these texts. Be sure to thoroughly analyze the texts by addressing specific moments/quotes while you answer the questions about the underlying themes that these authors are trying to express. Be sure to provide specific details to support your response and clearly identify the title and authors of the texts.
1. How do the principles of Benjamin Franklin, as expressed in his Autobiography excerpts, connect to the ideals of the farmer, as expressed by Paul Harvey’s words in “So God Made a Farmer”?
2. Discuss one reading/film that deal with the dangers/drawbacks of work. Discuss how either the Wagner Act or the Fair Labor Standards Act spoke to the conditions described in this reading/film.
3. Read the following quote from Time Wars by Jeremy Rifkin, who is commenting on the factory life but also about a worker mentality that stretches back farther than the time of modern industry. Analyze this quote and apply at least one text to help illuminate what Rifkin’s point:
“Getting workers to accept the new conception of time ultimately depended on the ability of the owners to convince the average laborer that through a combination of diligence, punctuality, discipline, and hard work he could better his lot in life, secure greater material wealth, improve his station in society, and assure a better future for his children” (111).
4. Walt Whitman and Philip Levine both reflect themes related to industrial work, though they present very different views. Compare and contrast a Whitman poem with a Levine poem. Do they have any areas of connection or do they represent two completely opposite views?
5. Some texts address the pleasures and satisfaction of work. Choose two pieces and compare and contrast them, explaining how they depict work in this way.
** Attached: The attached Exemplars Midterm document provides brief examples of strong introductions, textual support, and conclusions — this should give you an idea of what we are looking for in the organization and details of the midterm essays.
