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This is interesting...



What it took to get an 8th grade education in 1895...

Remember when grandparents and great-grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , 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 'lie,''play,' 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 hour 15 minutes)
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 3,942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 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 the cost of 6,720 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 metre?
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 acre, the distance of 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 the Rebellion.
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)
[Do we even know what this is??]
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.' (HUH?)
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, sup.
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, f ain, feign, vane , vain, vein, raze, raise, rays..
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate 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 the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco
6.. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the 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 the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

Gives the saying 'he only had an 8th grade education' a whole new meaning, doesn't it?! Also shows you how poor our education system has become and, NO, I don't have the answers

It does look fairly challenging.
Years ago I could have done the Grammar, but I'd have to brush up now.
I'd also struggle with the Orthography and the US specific History and Geography.
I could probably do the Arithmetic although I'm a bit rusty on rods, perches, and poles, and converting them to chains, square chains and thence acres.
I'd need to look up how many rods in a chain, maybe 8?, but I think it was 10 square chains to 1 acre before we went metric.
I'm surprised asks them to interact with the metric system by introducing "at $20 per metre" - I'd have expected it to be "at $20 per yard".

a furlong in racing parlance - was that 10 chains???

FattyLumpkin wrote:a furlong in racing parlance - was that 10 chains???

Yep, 10 chains, or 1/8 mile

use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Interesting that the Civil War is referred to as the "the Rebellion"

mick wrote:Interesting that the Civil War is referred to as the "the Rebellion"

I thought the Rebellion was the War of Independance rather than the Civil War...ie rebelling against English rule. I think the Civil War would have been very, very recent history back then and maybe too recent for school exams.

Regards
JAS

JAS wrote:

mick wrote:Interesting that the Civil War is referred to as the "the Rebellion"

I thought the Rebellion was the War of Independance rather than the Civil War...ie rebelling against English rule. I think the Civil War would have been very, very recent history back then and maybe too recent for school exams.

Regards
JAS

I'd imagine in Kansas in 1895 that the Civil War was refered to as "the rebellion" as Kansas was part of the union.
I've heard southerners (from confederate states) that to this day refer to it as "the war".

Leaping Lindner wrote:

JAS wrote:

mick wrote:Interesting that the Civil War is referred to as the "the Rebellion"

I thought the Rebellion was the War of Independance rather than the Civil War...ie rebelling against English rule. I think the Civil War would have been very, very recent history back then and maybe too recent for school exams.

Regards
JAS

I'd imagine in Kansas in 1895 that the Civil War was refered to as "the rebellion" as Kansas was part of the union.
I've heard southerners (from confederate states) that to this day refer to it as "the war".

This might explain it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_the_American_Civil_War

Interceptor wrote:

Leaping Lindner wrote:

JAS wrote:

mick wrote:Interesting that the Civil War is referred to as the "the Rebellion"

I thought the Rebellion was the War of Independance rather than the Civil War...ie rebelling against English rule. I think the Civil War would have been very, very recent history back then and maybe too recent for school exams.

Regards
JAS

I'd imagine in Kansas in 1895 that the Civil War was refered to as "the rebellion" as Kansas was part of the union.
I've heard southerners (from confederate states) that to this day refer to it as "the war".

This might explain it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naming_the_American_Civil_War

So looking at that and this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War

The Rebellion was the Civil War and The Revolutionary War was the War of Independance.

Bloody Yanks why can't they just pick a name and stick to it

Regards
JAS

Barto wrote:use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Don't forget -

their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

Choccies wrote:

Barto wrote:use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Don't forget -

their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

I've got to be able to use them correctly - part of my postgrad degree involves teaching this sort of thing to uni students. It really s**ts me that people still hand in essays with more than 20 spelling/grammar errors. They don't seem to realise that they get marked on that as much as on their arguments.

fisho mcspaz wrote:

Choccies wrote:

Barto wrote:use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Don't forget -

their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

I've got to be able to use them correctly - part of my postgrad degree involves teaching this sort of thing to uni students. It really s**ts me that people still hand in essays with more than 20 spelling/grammar errors. They don't seem to realise that they get marked on that as much as on their arguments.

I feel like a retread if I have typed something and have gotten one of these wrong so I always check now.....

Choccies wrote:

fisho mcspaz wrote:

Choccies wrote:

Barto wrote:use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Don't forget -

their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

I've got to be able to use them correctly - part of my postgrad degree involves teaching this sort of thing to uni students. It really s**ts me that people still hand in essays with more than 20 spelling/grammar errors. They don't seem to realise that they get marked on that as much as on their arguments.

I feel like a retread if I have typed something and have gotten one of these wrong so I always check now.....

my guess is that this was on purpose, if not then

Choccies wrote:their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

They're back where they belong with their football club, when they were once a force.
We're humbled to see them there, back where they belong too!

Did I get them all in ?

Choccies wrote:

fisho mcspaz wrote:

Choccies wrote:

Barto wrote:use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Don't forget -

their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

I've got to be able to use them correctly - part of my postgrad degree involves teaching this sort of thing to uni students. It really s**ts me that people still hand in essays with more than 20 spelling/grammar errors. They don't seem to realise that they get marked on that as much as on their arguments.

I feel like a retread if I have typed something and have gotten one of these wrong so I always check now.....

It's easy enough to do a typo when you're in a hurry but there are people who genuinely have no grasp of the difference.

SJABC wrote:

Choccies wrote:their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

They're back where they belong with their football club, when they were once a force.
We're humbled to see them there, back where they belong too!

Did I get them all in ?

What colour do the wear?

fisho mcspaz wrote:

Choccies wrote:

Barto wrote:use (yous, which isn't even a word to start with)
ur (you're)
here here (hear hear)
loose (lose)


I give up.

Don't forget -

their/there/they're
were/where/we're

Does anyone know how to use these words correctly these days ??

I've got to be able to use them correctly - part of my postgrad degree involves teaching this sort of thing to uni students. It really s**ts me that people still hand in essays with more than 20 spelling/grammar errors. They don't seem to realise that they get marked on that as much as on their arguments.

They can't/don't/won't even use "spell check" half the time.

The sand they put in bunkers on a golf course is mainly quite coarse, if you dig deep enough you might find a corse or two