Summer 2015 Final Exam Questions:
General Intro: You will be provided with 3 separate possible variations for the final
exam question, one of which you will be randomly assigned once you start the exam
on Catalyst.
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We STRONGLY suggest you carefully read each of the questions in advance
and have outlines and a bibliography prepared for each possible question.
Choose which articles/resources you are going to use IN ADVANCE so you
are not surprised when you get the question Catalyst assigns you. Choose the
resources well, with an eye to which are the most important and provide the
best explanations.
We DO suggest you have part 1 of the questions dealing with Lester Brown
written in advance and ready to paste in.
You do NOT need to write the part 2 section of your possible essay responses
out in advance, though you are permitted to do this. But you should definitely
have this part outlined for each possible question.
You will have 120 minutes to write one essay worth 250 points. This exam is
open note and open book.
Suggested length of the essay you write is between 1200 and 1800 words.
Unlike with the homework questions, there is no word limit. So, write away!
I strongly recommend that you write your actual essay on your computer
using a text editor, Word or Pages rather than writing directly on Catalyst
which sometimes is unreliable.
NOTE: Catalyst sometimes will not accept Word or Pages files being pasted
into the text box. So, if you are writing your essay off line, make sure you save
your document as a TEXT file before you paste it in.
Taking and Submitting Your Exam: IMPORTANT!! To start your exam, you log
onto Catalyst after which you will have 2 hours to complete the exam. BUT NOTE,
you will first submit your exam response to Catalyst AND THEN to the correct folder
for your particular essay question on turnitin.com. This is to insure that all of your
work is original and that you footnote/cite any sources you do use.
When submitting your exam on turnitin.com you MUST use the template I provide
for you. Make sure you fill it out completely, including your photo, list of readings
you explicitly use in your response, word count, etc. I will be grading your exam
based on your submission to turnitin.com so if you do not submit it there you will
fail the exam.
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Be sure to turn in the essay both on Catalyst AND TO THE CORRECT FOLDER
FOR YOUR QUESTION ON TURNITIN.COM
When submitting your exam to turnitin.com, be sure to use the final exam
template you will find on the Unit 12 calendar page.
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In filling out the template for turnitin.com, be sure to fill out the portion at the
top of the template that calls for a bibliographic listing of all of the sources you
EXPLICITLY use as references in your essay.
Also, be sure to provide a photo of yourself, a word count of your response, and
to check which question variation you got.
Make sure you put your exam response template in the correct folder on
turnitin.com that corresponds with the question variation you responded to.
Exam Questions: Background & Overview: Throughout the very quick summer
term, each week’s material has told a different “story” through which we can
understand what’s at stake politically and how as a society we have left some
communities devastated and struggling while other people end up with an outsized
share of our society’s material resources and political power. In this way, through
the readings, videos and class exercises, each week has given us a different way of
experiencing, thinking about, and analyzing politics.
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We started with the early material on mass media and “narratives;”
We transitioned into a study of the formal system of governmental decisionmaking— elections, parties, Congress, Courts, and the Presidency, as well as
California politics;
We migrated into a unit on social oppression focusing in particular on
gender, race and social class;
And then, we will conclude with a study of political economy with a focus on
the functioning of corporate capitalism.
While students are meant to understand the class material as a whole— with
no one explanation or set of explanations operating in isolation— each unit
of study nonetheless can act as a “lens” through which certain aspects of the
political process become more clear. Each unit can also act as a way of seeing
the interconnected nature of all politics in our society and in that way to tell a
multi-faceted story with different chapters.
For the final exam, you are being asked to use these various “lenses” to analyze and
explain one of the most pressing political issues of our time— the climate crisis and
its related environmental sub-crises. In this way you will demonstrate how well you
have mastered the core teachings of each unit.
In Chapters 1 & 10 of Plan B 4.0 Lester Brown makes an environmental studies
argument that food is the weak link in our environmental chain and that we are
headed towards a collapse of human civilization. He then argues that as a species we
currently have both the technical knowledge and the material resources to
transition towards a sustainable civilization. Finally, he argues that if we do nothing,
the consequences for human civilization across the planet will be dire.
Brown does not, however, provide a political explanation for this environmental
failure. He does not discuss or analyze the imbalances of power in our country or in
the world. He also does not provide a strategic political map that would help us
understand how as citizens we might mobilize politically to bring about his
proposed fixes.
Fortunately, other material we have studied this term has amply filled this gap in
Brown’s analysis. So, for the final exam, I would like you to fill out this missing
political analysis using the assigned material from various sections of reading from
our class. Below you will find three variations on the exam question you will get
when you log onto Catalyst to write your exam. Catalyst will randomly generate ONE
of these questions for you to respond to.
How will your response be evaluated?
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Did your explanation of the LESTER BROWN MATERIAL do a good job of
explaining his basic environmental studies analysis on why food is the weak
link? Did you demonstrate the connection between food and various other
interrelated elements of the environmental crisis? Did your ideas relate to
each other to provide a coherent narrative/explanation, or did they seem like
a random set of ideas without a thread connecting the story elements?
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How well did you UNDERSTAND THE CORE CONCEPTS of the “Story” or
“Lens” you were asked to explain in the essay you were assigned? Did you
pull out key concepts that combine to tell a coherent and compelling
story/narrative and provide a good explanation? Or did you throw together a
random set of ideas with little focus?
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How well did you pick WHICH ARTICLES/RESOURCES to use in making your
response? While you may choose any of the articles/sources from the Units
listed in the exam question variation, your final exam score will be based in
part on the complexity, appropriateness and importance of the articles you
choose to reference. That is, did your choice reflect good judgment about the
most important articles/resources to use? Or, did they more reflect just what
was short and easy to read? So, if you choose all simple and relatively easier
articles/sources, your grade will reflect this choice.
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In addition to the Lester Brown material, the minimum number of articles
and/or sources to complete your essay with a passing grade: 4+1=5. For a
better score, you will need to include more than the minimum.
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Variation 1- The Environmental Crisis and The Power of Narratives
Write an essay in which you do the following:
1. First, in Chapters 1 & 10 of Plan B 4.0 Lester Brown makes an environmental
studies argument that food is the weak link in our environmental chain and
that, if we do nothing, we are headed towards a collapse of human
civilization. In about 350 words explain Lester Brown’s ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES argument that leads him to this conclusion.
2. Second, using at least four articles/videos from the Class Units listed
just below, provide a comprehensive and coherent POLITICAL
explanation for why we find ourselves in this situation as a society and
why we are not currently moving with urgency to implement the kinds
of technical solutions Brown offers us. Use at least 4 articles from:
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Unit 2-The Power of Narratives (part 1): Mass Media & the
Manufacturing of Consent
Unit 3- The Power of Narratives (part 2): Mass Media, Democracy & the
Environment
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Variation 2- The Environmental Crisis, Elections and Governance
Write an essay in which you do the following:
1. First, in Chapters 1 & 10 of Plan B 4.0 Lester Brown makes an environmental
studies argument that food is the weak link in our environmental chain and
that, if we do nothing, we are headed towards a collapse of human
civilization. In about 350 words explain Lester Brown’s ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES argument that leads him to this conclusion.
2. Second, using at least four articles/videos from the Class Units listed
just below, provide a comprehensive and coherent POLITICAL
explanation for why we find ourselves in this situation as a society and
why we are not currently moving with urgency to implement the kinds
of technical solutions Brown offers us. Use at least 4 articles from:
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Unit 4-Elections and Politics (part 1): Congress, Courts and the
Presidency; & California Politics
Unit 5- Elections and Politics: Congress, Courts and the Presidency; &
California Politics Part 2
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Variation 3- The Environmental Crisis and Political Economy
Write an essay in which you do the following:
1. First, in Chapters 1 & 10 of Plan B 4.0 Lester Brown makes an environmental
studies argument that food is the weak link in our environmental chain and
that, if we do nothing, we are headed towards a collapse of human
civilization. In about 350 words explain Lester Brown’s ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES argument that leads him to this conclusion.
2. Second, using at least four articles/videos from the Class Units listed
just below, provide a comprehensive and coherent POLITICAL
explanation for why we find ourselves in this situation as a society and
why we are not currently moving with urgency to implement the kinds
of technical solutions Brown offers us. Use at least 4 articles from:
 Unit 9-Political Economy (part 1): Corporations, Capitalism and the U.S.
Economy
 Unit 10- Political Economy (part 2): Corporations, Capitalism and the
U.S. Economy
 Unit 11- Political Economy (part 3): Corporations, Capitalism and the
Global Economy