Saturday, October 2, 2010

Could You Have Passed the 8th Grade in 1895?

I've been getting some of the most interesting emails lately, and I'm glad because they provide great blog fodder.  Of course, I always check out the authenticity of anything I share here so as not to embarrass myself.  This is quite fascinating and kudos to the person who put it together.


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.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.
5. Define case; illustrate each case.

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?
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7percent per annum.
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.

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
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 .

Orthography (Time, one hour) [Do we even know what this is??]
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.

Geography (Time, one hour)
1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
4. Describe the mountains of North America .
9.. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete.

And since we're discussing's a few more fascinating facts:

Some history for you .
There is an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London.
It used to have gallows adjacent. Prisoners were taken to the gallows (after a fair trial, of course) to be hung. 

The horse drawn dray, carting the prisoner was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like ''ONE LAST DRINK''. 

If he said YES it was referred to as ONE FOR THE ROAD.
If he declined, that prisoner was ON THE WAGON.

At one time, urine was used to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor". But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot. They "Didn’t have a pot to Piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

And that's the truth.


Melissa Bradley said...

I think I could have gotten C on this test. I was familiar with most of the questions, but several really blew me away. Of course, many of these are questions I could only answer thanks to my college education. In 8th grade, definitely not. And that is sad. Love the history anecdotes.

Lorrie said...

Alas, I think I failed. Don't give me math, my downfall.
Cute post, now I know where a few of these sayings came from.
You always have such interesting posts. Thanks

Lisabet Sarai said...

Hi, Ginger,

Not an easy exam by any means! In all fairness, though, many of the questions clearly require simply supplying information that was learned by rote.

I always thought that "orthography" meant spelling. But clearly they use the term in a much broader sense.

Very cool post, Ginger!


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