ESPM 50AC Final Exam Fall 2020

Please read the following before responding to the essay prompts on page 2:

The Final Exam primarily addresses material from Units III and IV, but you are responsible for concepts and themes from the other units. The format is as follows:

• 1 essay from Unit III or IV (4 choices, 50 points) • 1 short answer question from Unit III or IV (4 choices, 20 points) • 15 Multiple-choice (2 points each / 30 points total)

Here’s how it works:

• The exam will be available from available from 12p, M (12/7) to 2:30p, M (12/14). • Submit the essay and short answer in a single .doc, .docx, or .pdf file to the Final Exam

Assignment upload tab on bCourses. • You will have 40 minutes to complete the multiple-choice portion of the exam (which

you should complete first), and as much time as you like to complete the essay and short answer question. We recommend that you spend no more than two and a half hours working on the essay and short answer questions.

• Take the exam alone and do not confer with other students about it until 2:30, M (12/14). • DO NOT copy and paste material from other assignments you have submitted for

this class or others. This will be caught by Turnitin and will be considered a violation of academic standards.

• This is an “open book” exam. You may use any course related resources. However, please be aware of the following:

o If you refer to, quote or paraphrase any material from the syllabus (or anywhere else), you must cite the author, publication date and page number using a parenthetic citation (e.g., Chan 1986, 94).

o You may refer to lecture content without citing it on the exam. o If you quote, paraphrase or draw on material from the internet that is not in the

course syllabus, you must parenthetically cite the website and url from which you draw. If you do not do this, you will be committing plagiarism.

o You may not use Wikipedia as a source to respond to essay questions on this exam. If you use Wikipedia but do not cite it, you will be committing plagiarism.

Answer ONE of the following essay questions. Use no more than 30 sentences. Essay 1. Compare Chinese and Japanese experiences of immigration and social incorporation in California between 1849 and 1941 in terms of the following:

• Specific push and pull factors, including key social and economic conditions and policies in sending and receiving countries at specific times;

• Specific opportunities available and means of pursuing upward mobility in the California economy at specific times and in specific places;

• The reasons for the relative success of each group in specific areas of the economy; • Takaki’s notion of “America’s errand into the wilderness” and/or Richard Walker’s

notion of California prospector capitalism. Use one or both of these to frame your comparison. Be sure to clarify the specific points in each of the authors’ arguments that you are using to support your argument.

Essay 2. Explain the development of gold mining in California in terms of crises of production associated with declining resource productivity. Specify how each historical phase of mining involved shifting relations between capital, labor, racial identity, natural resources and technology in changing environmental contexts. Frame your argument in terms of Takaki’s notion of “America’s errand into the wilderness” and/or Richard Walker’s notion of California prospector capitalism. Use one or both of these to frame your comparison. Be sure to clarify the specific points in each of the authors’ arguments that you are using to support your argument. Essay 3. Maya Angelou’s On the Pulse of Morning speaks to many of the themes of this course – focusing a critical lens on issues of identity, culture, work, conflict, justice, and nature in American history. Re-read Angelou’s poem, select a stanza or some portion of the poem, and write it in italics at the top of your answer (this will not count as one of your sentences for the response). Explain how the quote (and the poem more broadly, if applicable) can elucidate a theme or the experiences of specific groups and/or places described in Unit III or IV. Be creative, but also be sure to draw on specific lecture and assigned materials to illustrate your points. Essay 4. Explain how the history of industrialization and demarcated devaluation in West Oakland created a landscape of racially differentiated risk through specific racial projects. Describe key geographic features of this landscape, affected communities, and key forms of risk and vulnerability discussed in assigned readings and/or lecture. Then explain at least one way in which community members have or may in the future effectively challenge forms of injustice in West Oakland. Please note that you may include a map in your essay for reference, if you like.

Short Answer Questions: Reply to ONE of the following questions. Use no more than 13 sentences.

If you answered essay question 3 or 4, select from short answer questions 1 and 2. Do not answer questions 3 or 4.

Short Answer 1: Compare and contrast the Gentlemen’s Agreement and the Chinese Exclusion Act. Explain why the contexts in which each was enacted can or cannot account for differences between the two policies.

Short Answer 2: Describe the key features of prospector capitalism in California according to Richard Walker. At the end of you brief essay, offer a critique of the Walker’s essay in no more than three sentences.

If you answered essay question 1 or 2, select from short answer questions 3 or 4. Do not answer questions 1 or 2

Short Answer 3: Jenny Price calls The L.A. River an icon for a new environmentalism. Briefly describe why she chooses the LA River for this purpose. Then suggest your own icon for a new environmentalism, and explain why it is appropriate for this purpose.

Short Answer 4: If you were a representative of an environmental justice organization serving on an advisory committee to Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf regarding the future of Interstate I- 980, would you recommend that the freeway be decommissioned? If so, explain how decommissioning of the freeway could serve environmental justice goals for residents of West Oakland. If not, explain why environmental justice goals could be better achieved by not decommissioning the freeway.