Final Exam, Social Protest Literature, Spring 2001

     Answer Questions One and Two, and two of the others. Four
questions in all.

     Remember to take your time; organize your answer well; spell- and
grammar-check it carefully.

     Remember that this is a test on how well you know the reading
material. If you know it well, you will not have any problem answering
the questions. If you don't, you will not do well.

     So, reread all the supplementary materials carefully, and
look through your notes on the assigned books.

     Email to me by 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8.

     This exam is 25% of your final grade. Take your time. Do well.

     1. Class Conflict and the Formation of the United States

     Review Fast, The Proud and the Free, and the works
assigned for supplementary reading which deal with the class conflicts
between elites and masses at the time of the American Revolution,
including:

     * Toward an American Revolution: Exposing the Constitution and
other Illusions, by Jerry Fresia

     * Gouverneur Morris' Letter to Thomas Penn, May 20 1774

     * Howard Fast, "Reply to Critics."

     * Observations on the slaves and the indented servants, inlisted
in the army, and in the navy of the United States

     Write a detailed essay on the class contradictions in the
American Revolution. Refer extensively to the supplementary readings
listed above. 

     How, and how well, does Fast portray these class conflicts in his
novel The Proud and the Free? Give detailed examples.

     In all cases, give page numbers, or specific quotations, within
quotation marks, to illustrate your thorough knowledge of the
readings.

     2. Slavery, Racism, Class Exploitation

     This assignment requires you to write about Bontemps, Black
Thunder, and Fast, Freedom Road. In addition, it demands a
detailed knowledge of the collateral readings, including:

     * Herbert Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts, the
sections on Gabriel's Rebellion -- see HW assignment for February 20;

     * the section assigned from Frederick Douglass' autobiography;

     * Tom Watson, "The Negro Question in the South", published in
Arena magazine in 1892 (for the last two readings, see the HW
assignment for March 16)

     * Ted Allen, "Summary of the Argument of The Invention of the
White Race", Parts One and Two;

     * Thandeka, "The Whiting of Euro-Americans: A Divide and Conquer
Strategy." (for the last two readings, see the HW assignment for March
20).

     You may choose to write EITHER about Black Thunder OR
about Freedom Road. 

     IF you write about Black Thunder, you must make extensive
reference to it and to Aptheker, Allen, and Thandeka.

     IF you write about Freedom Road, you must make extensive
reference to it and to Watson, Allen, and Thandeka.

     Discuss the relationship between racial slavery, racism, and
class exploitation. How is it dramatized in the novel (either Black
Thunder or Freedom Road)? Give examples, with page
references.

     3. Sexism and Class Exploitation

     Discuss BOTH The Great Midland AND "Salt of the
Earth" from the perspective of how well they portray the issue of
sexism in American capitalist society.

     It may be helpful for you to study "THE FIGHT AGAINST SEXISM =
THE FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM", at http://www.plp.org/pamphlets/sexism.html.

     Please give detailed and specific citations to the text, but
either no quotations or very short ones, please -- I have the texts!

     4. Labor History and Fiction

     Saxton's The Great Midland has a fascinating introduction
by the author. Study it carefully. Review the chapters of Boyer and
Morais, Labor's Untold Story, which relate the history of the
American working class from 1900 until World War 2.

     Show, with careful references to the novel and to Labor's
Untold Story, how Saxton outlines American labor history from 1913
to 1940 in the novel. Refer specifically to his portrayal of the IWW
and the AFL. 

     How does Saxton portray the American Communist Party as a
continuation of American labor consciousness? 

     5. "Salt of the Earth"

     Study the essays at the end of the book by Wilson and Rosenfelt.
Study the film script (in the book). Review the chapters in Labor's
Untold Story which deal with World War 2 til the end of the book,
about the time that SotE was being filmed.

     Discuss "Salt of the Earth" as both a labor struggle and
a Cold War issue, as understood by Boyer and Morais' concept,
"The Cold War Against Labor."

     In discussing the labor struggle aspect, be sure to include:
exploitation; racism; sexism; the class bias of the 'justice' system
(police, courts, etc.), and examples of them. 

     In discussing the "Cold War" aspect, relate "Salt of the Earth"
to the global aspect of the Cold War -- anti-communism, again with
specific examples.

     6. Reed, Ten Days That Shook The World

     Trace John Reed's movements around Petrograd in the book. What
issues does he concentrate on -- i.e., which seem most important to
him, as a skilled observer of working-class radicalism? Pick at least
two or three issues which Reed focuses on in the book; cite the
passages in which he raises these issues (Chapter and first line of
paragraph; or, Chapter and page number).

     Now, take the chapters in Labor's Untold Story which deal
with the period from 1890 to the First World War -- the period with
which Reed would have been familiar at first hand. How do Boyer and
Morais portray these same issues within the United States? 

     What similarities and differences do you see between the two
treatments? This may suggest those aspects of Reed's own experience,
within the American labor and Socialist movements, which he also
focused on when he went to Russia to view the revolution there.

     Give detailed references to Reed and to Boyer and Morais whenever
possible.