The final examination will begin promptly at 10:30am on Tuesday, May 20, in
FSK 0110 (where we normally meet). The exam will last two hours.
A review session can be scheduled for Monday, May 19, 2003, 3:00-5:00pm, in 2110 Taliaferro.
The exam will be divided into two parts:
You will be given four terms drawn from the major figures, slogans, events, places, and concepts discussed the course. You will be asked to give a brief (2-4 sentence) definition of each term, placing the term in its proper historical context.
Three of the following seven questions will appear verbatim on the exam. You will be asked to answer two of the three options.
1) In Os Sert›es [Rebellion in the Backlands], Euclides da Cunha portrayed the Brazilian interior and its inhabitants as backwards and barbarous. For da Cunha, the future of Brazilian civilization lay in its coastal cities. By 1960, President Juscelino Kubitshek's imagined the inverse: the Planalto Central was a land of limitless possibilities, where a new ultra-modern capital would propel Brazilian society towards the future. What factors (political, cultural, economic) remade the civilized coast—barbarous interior dichotomy between the 1890s and 1960?
2) The positivist idea of "Order and Progress" has shaped an elitist vision of Brazilian political culture and political economy since the inception of the republic. Choose two major periods in post-1889 Brazilian political history and analyze how political elites tried to make "order and progress" a Brazilian reality. (Suggested periods include: the Belle ƒpoque; the Estado Novo; Kubitsheck's "Golden Age;" the Brazilian Miracle).
3) The ideology of racial democracy is one of the most peculiar aspects of post-abolition Brazilian society. On the one hand, the ideology seeks to correct a history of racialized slavery and scientific racism through a celebration of national inclusion, regardless of race. On the other hand, the ideology obscures enduring patterns of social stratification, especially around race. Trace the life of the ideology of racial democracy, from its origins in the 1930s to its contested history in the 1970s and 1980s.
4) The process of distensão/abertura was led by moderates in the military regime, national political parties seeking the restitution of civilian democratic rule, and a host of "new social movements." Analyze the composition, motivation, and interaction of these three actors, describing how they worked—independently and collectively—to set an agenda for the end of military rule.
5) Situate state-sponsored political violence within post-WWII Brazilian history. Your essay should concentrate on the origins, goals, and outcomes of politics of terror practiced during the post-1964 military regime.
6) Trace the contours of economic development in Brazil in the twentieth century, putting special emphasis on the tensions industrial vs. agricultural development, aggregate vs. per capita growth, and growth financed by foreign vs. domestic capital.
7) Modern Brazilian cultural history
is shaped by highly politicized struggles over who can claim a Brazilian cultural
identity. Develop an argument that historically situates the cultural politics
of claims to "Brazilianness" in the twentieth century.
You will be allowed to bring in one 5x8 notecard, filled with whatever information
you would like, to the exam. You will be required to turn in the card at the
end of the exam.
The final exam represents 20% of your final grade.
Final course grades should be available through Testudo on or about May 23.
HIST 471 Homepage | Email: Professor Williams