Could You Have Passed the 8th Grade in 1895?

[dmadman43]

http://people.morehead-st.edu/fs/w.willis/eighthgrade.html

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 from Salina, KS. USA.
It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley
Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, KS and reprinted by the
Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS - 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.
2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.
4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of do, lie, lay and run.
5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.
6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)
1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?
4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per m?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per are, the distance around which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of theRebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates:
1607
1620
1800
1849
1865

Orthography (Time, one hour)
1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono,super.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd,cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences, Cite, site, sight, fane,fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced andindicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is theocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America.
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba,Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fermandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth.

 

[N.Bailey]

nope

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Yikes

 

[phamton]

The test was probably a real test but may have actually been a high school graduation test.

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm

Consider: To pass this test, no knowledge of the arts is necessary (not even a nodding familiarity with a few of the greatest works of English literature), no demonstration of mathematical learning other than plain arithmetic is required (forget algebra, geometry, or trigonometry), nothing beyond a familiarity with the highlights of American history is needed (never mind the fundamentals of world history, as this exam scarcely acknowledges that any country other than the USA even exists), no questions about the history, structure, or function of the United States government are asked (not even the standard "Name the three branches of our federal government"), science is given a pass except for a few questions about geography and the rudiments of human anatomy, and no competence in any foreign language (living or dead) is necessary. An exam for today's high school graduates that omitted even one of these subjects would be loudly condemned by parents and educators alike, subjects about which the Salina, Kansas, students of 1895 needed know nothing at all. Would it be fair to say that the average Salina student was woefully undereducated because he failed to learn many of the things that we consider important today, but which were of little importance in his time and place?

 

[Cindy B]

Reminds me of the 8th grade GEPA now!

I was reading it over, and noticed a lot of Latin influence. The orthography section is a lot of language arts stuff used now.

The math is pretty typical of 6th grade (at least in my district) The US history doesn't look too bad either.

 

[kaylajr]

nope

 

[cheeringmom]

add me to the clueless <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/23/23_4_69.gif' border=0></a>

 

[Rajah]

Right now, nope.

Closer to when I was in school, probably.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I got stuck on the first question. I give myself a D-

 

[Keli]

There's no way I could handle the grammer, lol. The rest of it seems somewhat do-able although I wouldn't be aceing any part of that test. Wheew, I didn't realize that children were so well educated back then.

 

[Beauty]

I think I could pass it, but definatly not ace it. I'm thinking a C or even possibly a D. I'm good at BSing discussion questions.

 

[LScot]

Nope. I'd heard about this before. Whether it was 8th grade or 12th grade, I'd struggle!

My grandmother is 90yo and she does all her "figuring" w/o a calculator. I'm sure she doesn't know algebra and stuff but she certainly knows everyday math that one should know to get through this life! When it comes to $ she seems to really know about multiplying!!

 

[vettechick99]

Originally posted by poohkinandpiglet
Yikes

...is right!!!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by Cindy B
Reminds me of the 8th grade GEPA now!

I was reading it over, and noticed a lot of Latin influence. The orthography section is a lot of language arts stuff used now.

The math is pretty typical of 6th grade (at least in my district) The US history doesn't look too bad either.

Yikes!! If this is what 6th grade math is going to be like, I'd better start studying for what's about to hit (DS6) in 5 years...And I have had College level calculus and statistics..(I didn't say I aced them, just took and passed them... )

This is very upsetting to me..

 

[GeorgeG]

I just realized how stupid I am...

 

[CruisingCA2005]

Geez times have surely changed. Our 8th graders may not be able to answer all these questions but I wonder if an 8th grader in 1865 would know how to text message, "google", or figure out the latest playstation 2 game. LOL.