an 8th grade education

**StarTrekCaptain** · November 14th, 2005, 11:10 PM

Here is something OT, but since it concerns history, it is kinda Not OT. I thought it was very interesting and maybe shed some light on what students back in the day were taught. Even though they were in one room schoolhouses with no computers and few books, they were probably taught quite a bit more. About life, values and real education, not just time-filler stuff or busywork.

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, KS, and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS -1895

Grammar (Time given: 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 given: 1.25 hours)

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 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?
1! 0. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. History (Time given: 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 given: one hour)

Side note...do we even know what "orthography" is??!! LOL

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, 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 given: 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?

**dolllover** · November 14th, 2005, 11:38 PM

If I had taken this test I probably would have done well on the Grammar, and not so well on the Math section.I'm pretty good in History and I don't know the answers to these questions:
1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
Does anyone know what epochs means? Note: I know who Morse, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, and Penn are, but who are Whitney and Howe? Also, I have no clue what "orthography" is, do any of you guys know? These are pretty hard:
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.
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.
When they ask what is meant by the following do they mean what do the phrases mean? Out of all the things in the "orthography" section syllabication is one of the only things I know.... Is that bad? Syllabication has to do with syllabals right? What does diacritically mean? The Geography looks pretty easy to me. They learned more things in eighth grade than we do now, that is very surprising to me! They probably knew more things by the time they were my age! [img]rolleyes.gif[/img] Also, does anyone know what linguals is? It sounds to me like it has something to do with languages. Post means after, right? Also, does bi mean two(like bilingual) and non is not, right? Sorry if I confused anyone with my questions!

[ November 14, 2005 07:44 PM: Message edited by: AGfanatic ]

**jrtmom3274** · November 15th, 2005, 12:32 AM

You've asked some very intelligent questions!

* Does anyone know what epochs means?
An epic is an era, a division of time in history.

* I know who Morse, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, and Penn are, but who are Whitney and Howe?
I'm not sure about Howe, but there was a British general named William Howe who has some key wins over George Washington in the American Revolution. Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. (Or as School House Rock says so beautifully, "Things were rotten in the land of cotton til Whitney made the cotton gin."

* Also, I have no clue what "orthography" is, do any of you guys know?
The term we'd use today would be linguisitcs. If you have a chance to take a linguistics course in college, especially if you are majoring or minoring in any kind of humanity, English or education, do it! That was my favorite class. It was *tough,* but I learned so much. It helped that I had a great professor. That was my first quarter in grad school.

* When they ask what is meant by the following do they mean what do the phrases mean?
Yes, they are asking "what is the definition of the following terms or phrases?"

* Out of all the things in the "orthography" section syllabication is one of the only things I know.... Is that bad?
Not for someone who hasn't studied English in a university or taken a course specifically in linguistics. I wouldn't expect most high school students to know these terms-- given what current curriculum contains, not that they shouldn't know these terms-- and you'd be surprised how many do not understand the concept of syllabication-- which is something you SHOULD know before leaving 3rd or 4th grade. IMO, grammar is not stressed enough in schools. I was told last year, "we don't teach grammar in 10th grade. They know it already." The truth was, they didn't, so guess who taught it anyhow? Now, those juniors know!

* Syllabication has to do with syllabals right?
Yes, to break down a word into syllables.

* What does diacritically mean?
to distinguish or set apart

*Also, does anyone know what linguals is? It sounds to me like it has something to do with languages.
It's more about sounds than whole languages. It's about the tongue and mouth and how sounds are formed. Henry Higgins was a linguist; he didn't study English; he studied sounds and how the human body made them. (If you don't know who Henry Higgins is, google him, and then rent the Audry Hepburn version of the movie this weekend!)

*Post means after, right? Also, does bi mean two(like bilingual) and non is not, right?
Yes on all three. Very good!

GreyMyst · November 15th, 2005, 12:36 AM

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.htm
It's an urban legend.

That being said. I never went beyond the 6th grade(yes 6th, eh long story) and can anwser all of those. It'll take me a little time if you want me to prove it, of course [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ November 14, 2005 08:39 PM: Message edited by: GreyMyst ]

**MollyMolly** · November 15th, 2005, 12:51 AM

I would only pass in geography. [img]redface.gif[/img] After all I was the school's geography bee champ!(twice!) [img]tongue.gif[/img]

**Ds9jullian** · November 15th, 2005, 01:12 AM

Morse as in the Morse Code
Eli Whiteny
Alexander Graham Bell
Abraham Lincon
William Penn
George Howe

Ashley

**dolllover** · November 15th, 2005, 01:19 AM

Just recently in English we had to do a little bit of stuff on comma's because the teacher thought some of us might not be good at putting commas in the correct places. I find that kind of surprising. Things like commas, capitalizing names of people and places, etc. usually stay in my memory permanently(which doesn't usually happen with most things).