How to Answer Identifications on the Tests

This is a quick how-to tutorial on writing identifications for your exam. The IDs are half your exam in addition to short essays. An ID can be any important person, event, concept, etc. that we have covered. The review sheet posted earlier is a good study tool for potential IDs. A good ID contains this information:

Who/what (very brief description of term)
When (be as close as you can be chronologically)
Where (again, be as close as you can be geographically)
Historical significance (or the so what, who cares, why is this important)

Each of these is worth a set amount of points of the total ID score, but historical significance is usually worth at least half of the total point value. Therefore, make certain to include this! IDs usually average about a paragraph in length and should take you no more than 5 minutes to write. Part of the exam is about time management; so do not spend so much time on the IDs that you have no time for the essays.

The most challenging part of the ID is historical significance. Try not to think of historical significance as how it is important to today’s society, but rather as how that ID helps us understand the past. Remember, the study of history is not the study of “firsts” or “onlys.” Instead, look for the relationships between events. Think of how the potential IDs relate to the themes of the course—patriarchy in family and government, sovereignty, coercive force, etc.

A trick I taught my students was to utilize the lecture outlines Dr. Pasley has generously provided. Carefully look at lecture titles. For example: the Great Chain of Being (a potential ID) is discussed in the lecture “Patriarchy and Sovereignty in Early Modern Europe.” That is a hint to its significance. How does the Great Chain relate to the lecture title? Answering this can direct you toward its historical significance and thus understanding why we study Great Chain of Being in this class. Look further in the outline. Where is Great Chain of Being brought up? What topics surround it in the lecture? Close examination reveals that it was discussed the subheading “Rulers as Fathers of the People” and in particular reference to the development of an absolute monarchy in 17th century England. A good ID then would quickly define the Great Chain, give the time period of popularity and location of influence and then discuss how it relates to the above information. Be careful not to fall into the trap of telling the interesting stories and never get to the historical significance. Remember, you only have 5 minutes at the max. I’d suggest practicing time writings as I had my students do, just to see how much you can write in 5 minutes.