Unit I Exam - Grades

Following is the grade break down for the Unit I Exam:

• 40-39 = A
• 38-37 = A-
• 36 = B+
• 35-34 = B
• 33 = B-
• 32 = C+
• 31-30 = C
• 29-28 = C-
• 27 = D+
• 26-25 = D
• 24-23 = D-
• 22 or less = F

There were 10 A's; 11 B's; 9 C's; 6 D's; and 4 F's

Unit I Exam Key

You will find some abbreviations and punctuation marks on your exams. You can interpret these as follows:

• S = good source
• S? = where is your source?
• C? = where is your citation?
• NaS = This is not a sentence
• awk = This is an awkward sentence (hard to understand; grammatically weak, etc.)
• !! = good point
• ? = unclear
• sp = incorrect spelling

Most of you did well on the exam - earning an A, B, or C. However, there were some consistent weaknesses among all the exams, with the exceptions of the 10 exams (one-fourth of the class) that received an "A."

• Question #1: This question required a balanced response. While every person in the class determined that Serra should not be canonized as a Saint, only one-fourth of the responses presented a clearly balanced response using evidence to show that even considering the 18th Century mindset, their 21st Century minds could not accept sainthood.
• Question #2: This question required that you answer the question about the social, economic, and political impact of Spanish and Mexican rule in California WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE COURSE THEME - "The real history of California is complex and filled with stories of both success and failure, power and oppression, interaction and conflict, extraordinary and ordinary individuals, environmental conservation and destruction."
  • Three-quarters of you did not even address this theme. That means you did not answer the question. However, I gave you some credit.
  • IN FUTURE EXAMS, PLEASE READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU ANSWER THEM AND BE CERTAIN THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY ADDRESSING THE FULL QUESTION.
• Question #3: Some of you simply do not understand the goals of imperialism - or if you do, you did not make it clear in your answers. If you say that Spain and Mexico wanted California for its rich natural resources, then explain what they are. And then you also have to examine if that is a factual answer. It was clear to both powers that gold and silver were not readily available, so what was that natural resource? Harbors for trade?
• Question #4: This question specifically asked you to address push and pull factors, yet it is clear that many of you answered the question either without understanding what push and pull factors are, or simply ignoring that part of the question.
  • A pull factor is something that pulls you to move to a new country/territory/state while a push factor is something that pushes you away from the country/territory/state in which you are living.
  • Some of you confused the Anglo-American immigration patterns to Texas and California - and they were VERY different.