425 final

I've been in the salt mine for awhile, so this blog has been less than active, but I've come back up for air, just in time for finals 2008, of which this is the first to be posted:

History 425
Final exam—April 30, 2008


Directions Part I: Prepare the following four questions, taking care to bring in materials from reading, lectures, video, and whatever outside reading you have done. You will do ONE question in section I, and then ONE question in section TWO, but you don’t know WHICH questions will be selected, so you are advised to prepare ALL of them.


1) The Chain Bridge(lanchid in Hungarian) is indisputably the most beloved bridge in Budapest, a city of bridges. What is its significance for the evolution of the city, and more broadly, the Hungarian nation?


2) As in Ireland, the history of Budapest and Hungary is the story of a constant fight for freedom. First, outline for someone you know will be visiting where he/she can see evidence of this fight on the landscape of the Hungarian capital city. Then explain briefly the circumstances of the l956 Hungarian revolution and describe how Budapesters have chosen to commemorate that shattering event.

Directions Part II: See directions for Part I

3) In his book, Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life, John Conroy despairs of how the “core issues that have driven of this conflict can ever be solved through peace talks.” What are(were, now, thankfully) these “core issues,” and how did they affect residents on the Falls Road, the Catholic neighborhood where Conroy lived during his time in northern Ireland?


4) Clues to the northern Irish conflict—its past as well as its future—abound, particularly in the two largest cities, Londonderry and Belfast. What are some of the clues visitors can see, and what can they reveal about the way Catholics and Protestants view the “Troubles?”

Onward and upward...past this exam to summer break.