What
it took to get an 8th grade education in
1895...
Remember
when grandparents and great-grandparents stated 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 news
paper.
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)
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,
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, fain, 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. 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?!
No
wonder they dropped out after 8th grade. They already knew
more than they needed to
know!
No,
I don't have all the answers! And I don't think I ever
did!
| | |
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network