Spring Semester Final Exam

Directions

Everyone will take a Moodle exam over Topics 13 and 14. Each student will also complete a written portion of the final using one of the two options below (note that you can also choose multiple options if you are seeking extra credit):

OPTION 1 - ESSAY FINAL EXAM (click here)

OPTION 2 - Book Review

Read one or more of the books below and write a book review about that book. You will receive extra credit toward your final grade for each book review that you complete.  NOTE:  If you choose to read one of the books from Section 2 Options you will receive additional extra credit toward your final grade.

After reading the book you have chosen, write an essay response that follows these rules:

  1. YOU WILL WRITE ONE 2-3 PAGE ESSAY from the options below

  2. Your essay must contain a THESIS statement that summarizes your answer to the question.

  3. You must use at least THREE short quotes attributed to the source to which you are responding.  (EX:  Colton and Palmer said, ‘quote quote quote, quote quote.”)

  4. You answer should contain numerous, SPECIFIC examples from the reading assignment.

  5. You should conclude your response with a closing statement

  6. Submit your responses as a PDF document on Moodle

NOTE:  The point of a book response is to prove that you have read, understood, and can respond to the book.  ANY indication that you have NOT read the book, but simply Googled a summary of the book or borrowed quotes from online will result in your EXPULSION FROM THE CLASS.  If you have not read the book, don’t do the response.

Response Essay Prompt:

What does the book you have chosen to review reveal about the time period and events discussed, and their impact upon the history of Western Civilization?  Provide a summary of the most important events in the book that answer this question, and provide an analysis of TWO characters or historical figures from the book whose experience in the book answers this question.  (Recommendation:  Do NOT simply choose characters and events from the beginning of the book – prove that you’ve read the whole thing – and analyze characters that are foils to one another or provide some kind of contrast)

Section 1 Options:

     Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

     Darkest Hour:  How Churchill Brought England Back From the Brink by Anthony McCarten

     Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett

     Hornet Flight by Ken Follett

     City of Thieves by David Benioff

     New Day Dawning by Jonathan Kis-Lev

     Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi

     Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler

     A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich

     A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

    All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

JACKDAWS by Ken Follett

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

The Huntress by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Section 2 Options (Extra Credit):

     Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

     Winter of the World by Ken Follett

     Edge of Eternity by Ken Follett