Exam project

To cheer those of us ankle-deep in papers to grade, here are some verbatim answers to exam questions collected by TAs in years gone by (belated thanks to KA). For these exams, students were asked to briefly identify and explain the historical significance of the item in bold.

Berlin Airlift
Was used for travel between Germany and Europe. It enabled people to leave by using planes and blimps.

Stagflation
The inflation rate that makes more money but loses its rate.

Blitzkrieg
Located in Russia. Was home to communism during the middle of the Century.

War Communism
The communism ideas, being in the war years. Different communism than that which had come, but in the later years.

Bacon’s Rebellion
Historical background for the book Animal Farm. The pigs were tired of being turned into bacon, so they revolted and took over the homestead.

The 19th C will always welcome you back

I signed up to teach this class called AGE OF EUROPEAN EXPANSION and sadly Europe started expanding--yes, that's right, try not to panic--before the French Revolution. You know, in that gray and fuzzy time period I like to call "Back in the Day" (or BITD). When Europeans like, road on burros wacking each other with clubs and had witchcraft familiars named Snoony Tom and didn't believe in evolution. It is also called Olde Time and Ye Olde Time.

So the whole first two weeks of this class, I find myself saying things like, "As the Portuguese extended their chain of forts down the west coast of Africa," and using the word "15" things. As in, "1519" and "1562." Numbers that start with 15. As in, as my own voice comes out of my head, it triggers a faint memory of my 10th grade civics teacher saying much the same thing. And terror. It triggers terror, because instead of the old, familiar and answered-before questions (ex: "Was Hitler gay?") you get stopped in your paces whilst in front of your class with doozies like "Did the Maya have money?" "How did the Aztecs select their kings?" "What was the population of the largest city in Europe in 1500?"

Answer: "Well, the Maya didn't have money as we understand it, of course, but they did have units of exchange."

Answer: "Aztec king selection was a complicated affair, with heavy priest involvement and possible human sacrifice."

Follow-up question: "So, did the Aztecs have a hereditary monarchy?"

Answer: "Well, not per se, but being related to the former ruler helped one get power."

(Note: Post-class research revealed that the Mayan money answer is correct (thanks to roommate research dept.) but the Aztec answer is totally wrong!)

It makes you even wish once again to hear the well-known ring of, "I saw a show on the History Channel--Was Hitler on drugs?"

(Note: the show is called "High Hitler.")

Anyway, but finally tomorrow we are moving on to the Atlantic Slave Trade and the book I've assigned takes place in 1823. Whew. I never thought I'd be so glad to see the 19th C. The 19th C, when things finally start making sense.

I feel bad that I once called it "the null century."

The turtle incident

Grandma and her sister both died this past year. Grandma was 95 and Rita was like 90. This is pretty sad, I miss those old ladies. This is my latest Grandma versus Rita story (they had been battling on and off, sister-style, their whole lives).

Background info
Grandma, a candy lover, had a particular fondness for chocolate turtles.
Grandma stopped driving when she was like 89; Rita kept driving till just before she died. Rita also liked candy. By the time of the turtle incident, Grandma almost never left her house. For her supply of candy, which she kept by the chair she spent most of her time in, she relied on gifts (unprompted; I never heard of Grandma requesting turtles, or anything) from visitors and from my aunt with whom she shared the house.

The turtle incident
Someone bought both Grandma and Rita each a half pound box of turtles (that's like 6 turtles). Grandma put hers into the stash in her room and ate them sparingly, occasionally out of brave and obligatory politeness offering one to a visitor (but visitors knew to decline the offer). Rita took her turtles home and apparently consumed them all, because one day she showed up to visit Grandma and said,
"Aren't you going to offer me one of your turtles?"
Grandma, an unfailingly respectable, devout and polite woman, said no. Insulted, Rita accused Grandma of being a bad hostess and left in a huff.

This incident prompted a debate (of course not including Grandma) on whether Grandma should have shared her turtles. Some people thought it wasn't worth fighting with Rita about.

But I thought that they were missing a crucial point: Rita could drive herself to get more turtles for herself. But Grandma was completely dependent on gifts of turtles from others. In the candy economy, Grandma, though the major consumer of candy in the family, was forced to rely on donations.

Personal victory!

I ended my History of the Holocaust summer course by showing the class this picture.

What's nice about it

What's nice about studying Nazism is that when you are at parties or whatever, you can point out
that whatever has happened to come up in polite conversation (the person's profession, the modern dance performance you're all about to see, etc.) was implicated in German fascism. It's fun at parties and on romantic weekends at B & Bs.

Example:

Someone at cocktail hour: Meet [name], he's a doctor.
YSA: The medical profession is one profession that really hasn't grappled with its involvement in the Nazi genocides at all.