English: Culture and History UK & US (CHUKUS) – UAntwerpen – Toegepaste Taalkunde – 2020-2021
Preparation for the English Culture and History course
Exam in general
- Exam format: written exam, computer format (pc-based)
- One exam for UK and US together
- For the exam stick to your AmE or BrE English throughout (when relevant)
- Largely fact driven: largely test factual knowledge
- In each section, there will be an open question where you have to write
10/15/20 lines. This will ask you to reproduce in your own words sth that is
more than a mere fact.
- Reread your exam very carefully, because the computer has no mercy for
mistakes that happened by accident
- Questions will always be about themes/subjects that we discussed in the
lectures or in the book
- The exam can include, but not necessarily so:
o Multiple-choice questions
o YES/NO questions
o True/false questions
o Fill in the blank sections
o Blank maps (be able to point at UK cities on the map + study the US
states that were explicitly mentioned in the course)
o Open questions (more in depth, 100/150 words)
- There will be current event sections on the exam
The United States
What shouldn’t you know/study? This is a non-comprehensive list. I just noted down
what Professor Albers explicitly mentioned in the Q&A session.
- Every date in the course
- The names of all the generals who were involved in the battles between the
Union & the Confederacy
- All the amendments from the Bill of Rights by heart
- You do not have to be able to reproduce the chart/figure on p. 247 in the book
- Local government (p. 202-208)
- Birth dates, dates/years when e.g. less important (migration) laws or
restrictions were decided upon
- The map from Peter Parish’s text about the Civil War & details from this text
that Professor Albers did not touch upon in the recorded lecture (background
reading)
- Blind map with the 50 states of America to identify different states
- The Sixties documentary may give you information that you can use to
answer a question about the Sixties that is based on the documentary, but
there will be no questions focussing on elements in the documentary that
were not mentioned in class
o Idem: the podcast about Biden & Trump
- The video from The Newsroom is not essential
- Every change in policy that the Trump administration makes during corona,
e.g. Trump retreats from a military treaty with the Russians
- Military personnel, manoeuvres, tactics…
What should you know/study? This is a non-comprehensive list. I just noted down what
Professor Albers explicitly mentioned in the Q&A session.
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, English: Culture and History UK & US (CHUKUS) – UAntwerpen – Toegepaste Taalkunde – 2020-2021
- Know that the first, second (& eight) amendment are the most important
(important in general)
- Know that there are different courts at different levels
o Know that there is a US Supreme Court and that every state also has its
own Supreme Court
o Know that there is a difference between a Court of Appeals and a Supreme
Court e.g.
- P. 200 in the book in general: differences between a governor’s situation and
that of the president
- Dates from big historical moments: be able to locate them in time
o Be able to make connections between important dates
- Peter Parish’s text about the Civil War: read and understand it
o The way Lincoln won the elections (Four candidates; what the party
needed in 1860; candidacy of Lincoln)
o Four causes/stories/categories from the Civil War: conflicts of interest that
led up to the war
- The Civil War map: identify the Union, the Confederate states (the southern
states that seceded) & the four border states
- Have a general idea of what is happening in America today with corona &
Trump
- Fort Sumter, the blockade, Lincoln coming from the sea…
Questions from students
Why was the Battle of Vicksburg so important, maybe even more important
than the Battle of Fort Sumter?
Vicksburg was from a military strategic point the crucial battle of the Civil War
because it was the turning point in that war. The Battle of Vicksburg happened
from May 18 until July 4, 1863.
Vicksburg, Mississippi controlled the movement of supplies on the Mississippi
River. If the Union (the army of Tennessee) could control the river, then they
could split the Confederacy (the army of Vicksburg). This was an extremely hard
task, but the general for the Union & the leader of the Union army (& future
president), named Ulysses S. Grant, took on the challenge. His rival was John C.
Pemberton, the general for the Confederacy & the leader of the Confederate
troops.
Vicksburg was strategically located on the Mississippi river. To conquer Vicksburg
would cut the South supply lines, who were surrounded by northern troops. As
long as they had access through Vicksburg to the Mississippi river, the South
could keep feeding their troops and the population in the southern states.
Vicksburg was therefore essential in the Civil War. If you got Vicksburg, you could
really strangle the South, which is exactly what happened.
What is the difference between the Constitution, Congress and the Supreme
Court?
o The Constitution is the supreme law of the USA. It is the basic legal
foundation of America. In the US, it is a sacred document. It delineates the
national frame of government, with important four principles:
republicanism, federalism, separation of powers and system of checks and
balances. States have a large autonomy in America when it comes to local
state laws, but if they decide to make a law that is somehow contradicted
by or that would undermine laws written down in the Constitution, the
states will have to withdraw that law. The Constitution outweighs all the
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