HOW TO INTERPRET THE SCORES

Each of the questions was worth a maximum of 100 points.  Any score above 80 (= B/C) I consider to be satisfactory (to different degrees, obviously), while scores below 80 I consider unsatisfactory.   A score of 55 means that you misunderstood the question or were out of the ballpark entirely.  Generally speaking, 95 = A, 85 = B, 75 = C, 65 = D, and 55 = F.  Note that I grade your answers blind, that is, without knowing whose exam I'm grading.  (Occasionally I'll recognize someone's handwriting — or think I do;  I'm rarely sure.)

There were thus a total of 600 possible points  Your total score is on the last page of your exam.

Although I tried to write out my comments, I did use my system of editorial marks, accessible via the link.

Here are the letter grades corresponding to the various scores:  [Note that there is overlap between the ranges at their ends.  These overlaps represent borderline grades (e.g., 530 = A/B).  There will be no borderline grades for the course grade, however.  If your course weighted average falls exactly on the border, you get the higher grade.]

• A:  520 & above
• B:  470-520
• C:  420-470
• D:  370-420
• F:  370 & below

The numeric score, not the letter grade, will be averaged into the calculation of the overall course grade.

The median score was 471 (B--).  (This median differs from the egradebook median of 465 because egradebook doesn't know how to ignore missing scores.)  One student reached a score of 560.

The exams will be available in my office during Spring semester.

GENERAL COMMENTS

Overall, the class did relatively poorly, as the median grade shows.  The problem was not confined to any one question.

Note that questions 1-5 were drawn almost verbatim from the material on the study guide.

ANSWERS

1. As I said in the online notes, Steger is trying to prove the six claims about globalism listed below. Which of these claims has the weakest support, and why?

i. There is an ideology in the first place.
ii. This ideology benefits a certain class (not all, all the time, but most, usually) and thus is politically motivated.
iii. This ideology is pushed, and consciously so, to create popular beliefs & values and thus is not inevitable.
iv. The ideology creates what it tries to define.
v. It suppresses other perspectives, other discourses.
vi. It suppresses other sources of power — e.g., the institutions of collective decision-making. It protects and fosters asymmetrical power relations.

• I had no fixed idea about which of the above claims was weakest;  I was primarily interested in your demonstrating a knowledge of the text.
• A number of students seemed to read the question backwards, i.e., as if it asked whether globalism itself was a weak ideology.  As given, however, the question asks how well Steger supports the above claims about globalism.
• The biggest problem in answering that question was any lack of evidence.  Students just said, "xx had the weakest support" and let it go at that.  Recall that the question is a two-part question:  not just what claim was weakest but why you considered it so.
• A number of answers were phrased conditionally or hypothetically, e.g., "If we assume that the free market benefits everyone in the long run, then claim ii is weakest."  Such an answer demands a justification of the premise — in the previous example, an explanation about why one should believe that "the free market benefits everyone in the long run".

2. According to Chilton, the text's "left-right" distinction breaks down when trying to separate the various ideological responses to globalism mentioned in the Steger text. In what way(s) is "left-right" a meaningful separation for these responses? In what way(s) is it not?

• The basic answer can be found in the online notes for the Steger text.
• Answers should have pointed out that although both leftists and rightists can be found opposing globalism, the nature of their opposition is different.

3. One advantage possessed by the globalists is their control of most organized means of violence in the world. What is/are the disadvantage(s) of bringing that force to bear in shutting down their opponents?

• There were a number of creative responses to this question, and you can find them in the online notes for the Steger text.

4. Steger claims that various aspects of the media lead them to adopt the globalists' point of view when reporting on anti-globalism demonstrations. What are these aspects, and do you yourself agree that they have the effect(s) he says?

• The basic answer can be found in the online notes for the Steger text.
• One common but inadequate answer was that the entertainment value of (some) protesters' violent behavior made the media focus on that, discrediting the protesters.  This answer was inadequate because it does not address why the media should have focused on protester violence instead of police violence (or instead of both forms of violence).
• Many answers discussed the nature of the biases at length but neglected to answer the second part of the question.  In some cases, answers did state agreement/disagreement with Steger but failed to explain why one would think so.  This was a flaw in the question wording, since I assumed that students would know that a bare, unsupported statement of their opinion would not be adequate.

Part II: Answer either one of the following two questions (5-6).

5. To what extent has the government of Tweedistan bought into the globalist view of the world? Why has it done so (or not done so)? It should be obvious from your answer, but just to make sure: please state what country you were assigned as "Tweedistan".

6. What aspect of Tweedistani society creates the most difficulty for the country's development? Explain why you believe this, contrasting this aspect of the society with another plausible candidate for "most difficult". It should be obvious from your answer, but just to make sure: please state what country you were assigned as "Tweedistan".

• In both questions 5 and 6 I was only concerned that you said something reasonable regarding Tweedistan and supported your judgments with evidence.  A number of answers lost points because the supporting evidence had little or nothing to do with Tweedistan in particular.

Part III: Answer both of the following questions (7 & 8):

7. In class we both praised capitalism as an engine of development and damned it as "a disease masquerading as a cure". Which of the many criticisms of capitalism do you think was the best? Explain why you chose it as best. Which of the many criticisms of capitalism do you think was the weakest? Explain your choice here also.

• If there were no obvious errors, your (well-expressed and well-supported) opinion was fine, even if I disagreed with it.
• The question was misunderstood by a number of students.  They seemed to read it as if I were asking whether capitalism was good or bad, not whether the criticisms we read were strong or weak.
• Several answers made reference to the de Soto text in a way that made clear they were referring to de Soto's criticism(s) of mercantilism.  Mercantilism is not capitalism.
• I am very sad to say that many (too many, anyway) students simply did not know any critiques of capitalism.

8. In class I argued that the women portrayed in the film, "Small Happiness", were oppressed not because we disapproved of what was done to them but because they had not had agreed to this way of being treated in a public discussion where they had equal voice. Regardless of whether this is the right criterion for oppression, is it the right criterion for development? Argue that it is, or else argue that this criterion is incomplete and/or not necessary for a change to be considered "development". Note that you will be graded not on whether you have the Right answer (= my answer, naturally) but on the thoughtfulness of the arguments for your position and the extent to which you consider other possible points of view.

• As for earlier questions, I was more concerned with your understanding and reasoning than with your particular answer.
• The main problem with the answers was the failure to define "development".  This is not a big issue if your answer was the self-defining one that the criterion was the right one for development.  If, however, you said that the criterion was inadequate or incomplete, you had to state what "development" meant to you.  I am assuming that for most such students it probably meant something like "economic growth", but you had to say so (and, hopefully, explain why this was a better understanding of development).
• A common problem was a confusion of "oppression" with "inequality" and/or "disadvantage".  For example, if slaves are freed, this disadvantages the slaveowners, but the slaveowners aren't thereby "oppressed".  You can't oppress someone by taking away what they shouldn't have had in the first place!  While there is obviously room for disagreement about what people should or shouldn't have, this is a different question from whether they have been disadvantaged.