Email from my 84 year old aunt.

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 , KS , 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, 65 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 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel,
deducting 1050 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 6720 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
meter?
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,
and 1865.

Orthography (Time, one ho ur) (Do we even know what this is???)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography,
etymology, and syllabication.
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, sub vocal,
diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.
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-, and 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 mispron ounced 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 mountai ns 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? This also
shows you how poor our education system has become... and, NO! I don't have
the answers

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
...
Email from my 84 year old aunt.

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 , KS , 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, 65 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 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel,
deducting 1050 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 6720 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
meter?
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,
and 1865.

Orthography (Time, one ho ur) (Do we even know what this is???)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography,
etymology, and syllabication.
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, sub vocal,
diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.
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-, and 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 mispron ounced 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 mountai ns 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? This
also shows you how poor our education system has become... and, NO! I
don't have the answers


Your 84 year old aunt, eh? Next time tell her to check with snopes. :-)

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.


Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp



I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie is
Here
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"

wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.


Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp



I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.

That's because she knows you are a sucker.



Could be, but they at least did the 3R's then. My mom's friend Betty passed
away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. We always got a thank you
after a holiday visit. The note was correctly punctuated, beautiful
penmanship, and well written. Now some of the highschool graduates can not
read thier diploma.

Calif Bill wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie is
Here
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"

wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.

Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp


I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.
That's because she knows you are a sucker.



Could be, but they at least did the 3R's then. My mom's friend Betty passed
away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. We always got a thank you
after a holiday visit. The note was correctly punctuated, beautiful
penmanship, and well written. Now some of the highschool graduates can not
read thier diploma.




Or spell "their."

wrote:
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie is Here
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.

Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp


I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.

That's because she knows you are a sucker.


LOL so true.

"HK" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie
is Here
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"

wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.

Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp


I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.
That's because she knows you are a sucker.



Could be, but they at least did the 3R's then. My mom's friend Betty
passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. We always got a
thank you after a holiday visit. The note was correctly punctuated,
beautiful penmanship, and well written. Now some of the highschool
graduates can not read thier diploma.


Or spell "their."

My typos are copyright protected.

"HK" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie
is Here
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"

wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.

Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp


I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.
That's because she knows you are a sucker.



Could be, but they at least did the 3R's then. My mom's friend Betty
passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. We always got a
thank you after a holiday visit. The note was correctly punctuated,
beautiful penmanship, and well written. Now some of the highschool
graduates can not read thier diploma.


Or spell "their."

Ahh, the poser checks in again to scintillate, this time jumping on a common
spelling error to prove his absolute brilliance.

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
"Reggie is Here wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.

Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.

Here's the thing that bothers me about the Internet.

Nothing in that Snopes article says that the test was false or some
kind of urban legend. Much was made about the relative value of the
test or if the tested information was relevant, useful or of any
value.

From the article:


"To pass this test, no knowledge of the arts is necessary (not even a
nodding familiarity with a few of the greatest works of English
literature)"

Such as? And what exactly would the great works of English literature
have to do with building and expanding the country?

"no demonstration of mathematical learning other than plain arithmetic
is required (forget algebra, geometry, or trigonometry),"

Plain arithmetic is the basis of all mathematics. If one can grasp
basic tenants of arithmetic, one can grasp all else.

"nothing beyond a familiarity with the highlights of American history
is needed (never mind the fundamentals of world history, as this exam
scarcely acknowledges that any country other than the USA even
exists),"

Yeah so? What's the point? Were these people planning on living
anywhere else?

"no questions about the history, structure, or function of the United
States government are asked (not even the standard "Name the three
branches of our federal government")"

I'd really put some money down on whether 90% of graduating high
school students could tell you what bicameral means - with the highest
percentage of them thinking it's some kind of clam.

"science is given a pass except for a few questions about geography
and the rudiments of human anatomy,"

Turn the author's argument around - why was that necessary in 1896?
Science as we know it was still in it's infancy.

"and no competence in any foreign language (living or dead) is
necessary. An exam for today's high school graduates that omitted even
one of these subjects would be loudly condemned by parents and
educators alike, subjects about which the Salina, Kansas, students of
1895 needed know nothing at all."

Specious argument.

The author concluded: "Do we really care these days whether our
educators the feminine's of hero, bachelor and ox?"

Yes and the answer is Heroine, Spinster and Cow.

My larger point is that somehow, because it's on Snopes, it's false.
No, it's not false - it's true. It would have been more important to
say that - yes, that is a true statement, but... and move on to the
relevance according to the author.

With respect to the test:

Fundamentals are important. While I suspect this isn't an 8th grade
test, I would suspect that it's a high school graduation test which
was common in those days. (Something that the educational system is
returning to, by the way.)

I could answer about 90% of the total test without reference my
weakest area being grammar.

And I'm an old fart with reading problems when I was younger.

Oh, I'm almost in rant territory.

Well, EEEXXXCCCCCUUUUUUSSSSEEEE MMMMMEEEEEEE!!!!

~~ mutter ~~

Sorry.

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 14:42:53 -0800, "Calif Bill"
wrote:


"HK" wrote in message
...
Calif Bill wrote:
wrote in message
...
On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:16:06 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie
is Here
wrote:

wrote:
On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 13:39:37 -0800, "Calif Bill"

wrote:

Email from my 84 year old aunt.

Yeah, right!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp


I get that kind of urban legends from my 82 yr old mother all the time.
No matter how many times I tell her if a story comes to her via email,
it is not true, she keeps forwarding them to me.
That's because she knows you are a sucker.



Could be, but they at least did the 3R's then. My mom's friend Betty
passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 94. We always got a
thank you after a holiday visit. The note was correctly punctuated,
beautiful penmanship, and well written. Now some of the highschool
graduates can not read thier diploma.


Or spell "their."

My typos are copyright protected.

Good idea.