1895 8TH GRADE EDUCATION

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mstaser
mstaser Posts: 657 Member
(Copied off email)

Things sure have changed !

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, 1 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, 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.
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
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Replies

  • vipergts223
    vipergts223 Posts: 114 Member
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    I have a Masters Degree and dont know what 98.9% of that stuff is....LOL
  • mmarlow61
    mmarlow61 Posts: 112 Member
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    I have a Masters Degree and dont know what 98.9% of that stuff is....LOL

    Same here! lol
  • ChristiH4000
    ChristiH4000 Posts: 531 Member
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    Our education system has sharply declined, and now is being vilified in politics as "indoctrination camps" and unnecessary spending. We have had the wealth and resources to be the best in the world, but we haven't done that. Shame on us!
  • huntingforhipbones
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    I'm reading English so the orthography/grammar stuff is a piece of cake but OH GOD THE NON-METRIC MEASURES ARE KILLING ME :p
  • astroub
    astroub Posts: 289 Member
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    I have a Masters Degree and dont know what 98.9% of that stuff is....LOL

    Me too! Haha
  • 10acity
    10acity Posts: 798 Member
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    So there was a time when something was expected of students beyond showing up? What a concept.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
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    What can you expect? Things have changed dramatically in the last 117 years. Some for the better. Some for the worse.

    Scientifically, what was taught then is no longer valid or is better understood now than then.

    Linguistically, the advent of modern day communication (texting, tweeting, FB, email, etc.) has dumbed up America. Most communication is not grammatically correct and most of this generation can't even punctuate correctly. Forget about spelling. We don't have time to deal with it. We're too busy LOLing and LMFAOing to worry about grammar.

    Attention span of the technologically savvy is seriously crippled. How can you pay attention to what's going on around you if you are constantly dropping your gaze to your lap where you are receiving and sending out critical text messages.

    Lord knows that my day isn't complete if I don't hear about Donna's morning Latte.
  • justbecause2014
    justbecause2014 Posts: 371 Member
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    Notice the math section, it actually has to do with there real life! They weren't wasting time teaching pointless math that no one uses! I can't tell you how many of my classmates didn't know how to write a check by the time they started college! But i'd just like to say, I do know the answer to U.S. History question 7, just sayin' ;)
  • PrplSkys
    PrplSkys Posts: 3
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    Now I want to go look up all the answers...*sigh*
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
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    Also need to take into account Current Events
    Kids now are learning of WTC, terrorism, war in Middle east

    Population increase, amount of "grades"
    Lack of taking it upon ourselves to watch the history channel

    I totally 2nd "theroaddog" -- technology is making life much simpler and we lose our "english" skills as well. But look at years of studying and development to get to the point where I can now deposit my bank check through my phone...
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
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    But look at years of studying and development to get to the point where I can now deposit my bank check through my phone...

    And.....unfortunately, make it easier for the tech thief to intercept your deposit through the internet. Even our criminals are getting lazier.
  • the_journeyman
    the_journeyman Posts: 1,877 Member
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    I was a 3.3 GPA student, with only a business degree and I can do most of that. I graduated from high school in 1996. It's changed considerably even since then.

    JM
  • mdsjmom98
    mdsjmom98 Posts: 333 Member
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    My son is in the 8th grade and is busting his butt studying for the US and Illinois Constitution. His math is a LOT more difficult than when I was in school!!
  • cutchro
    cutchro Posts: 396 Member
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    Respect for my Elders has increased! Thanks for sharing. :smile:
  • KLo924
    KLo924 Posts: 379 Member
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    For your consideration: http://www.snopes.com/language/document/1895exam.asp

    Also, this:
    What can you expect? Things have changed dramatically in the last 117 years. Some for the better. Some for the worse.

    Scientifically, what was taught then is no longer valid or is better understood now than then.

    Linguistically, the advent of modern day communication (texting, tweeting, FB, email, etc.) has dumbed up America. Most communication is not grammatically correct and most of this generation can't even punctuate correctly. Forget about spelling. We don't have time to deal with it. We're too busy LOLing and LMFAOing to worry about grammar.

    Attention span of the technologically savvy is seriously crippled. How can you pay attention to what's going on around you if you are constantly dropping your gaze to your lap where you are receiving and sending out critical text messages.
  • mstaser
    mstaser Posts: 657 Member
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    I agree with the comments about the math. I really like how this is directed towards real world uses. I have 1st and 4th graders at home and can't believe how fast they push math thru these kids. They don't have time to learn something before they have move onto something else.
  • morganhccstudent724
    morganhccstudent724 Posts: 1,261 Member
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    What can you expect? Things have changed dramatically in the last 117 years. Some for the better. Some for the worse.

    Scientifically, what was taught then is no longer valid or is better understood now than then.

    Linguistically, the advent of modern day communication (texting, tweeting, FB, email, etc.) has dumbed up America. Most communication is not grammatically correct and most of this generation can't even punctuate correctly. Forget about spelling. We don't have time to deal with it. We're too busy LOLing and LMFAOing to worry about grammar.

    Attention span of the technologically savvy is seriously crippled. How can you pay attention to what's going on around you if you are constantly dropping your gaze to your lap where you are receiving and sending out critical text messages.

    Lord knows that my day isn't complete if I don't hear about Donna's morning Latte.

    I adore you.
  • Abells
    Abells Posts: 756 Member
    Options

    But look at years of studying and development to get to the point where I can now deposit my bank check through my phone...

    And.....unfortunately, make it easier for the tech thief to intercept your deposit through the internet. Even our criminals are getting lazier.

    Still got to be smart to hack :)

    but yesssss -- i should start running to the bank -- well actually I do sometimes ha
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
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    I don't see what is so difficult about this exam. Sure, we don't know a lot of this stuff; some of it is useless and outdated, so we weren't taught it. I'm sure if we spent 8 years learning it, it would be easy enough to pick up. And a lot of it is stuff that you just don't remember after school. If you aren't particularly interested in history, you probably don't remember the significance of dates and so forth. That doesn't mean we didn't know it in 8th grade when we were learning it.
  • kurenaikumo
    kurenaikumo Posts: 271 Member
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    I'm guessing Orthography has to do with the proper oral pronunciation of the English language? You're hard pressed to find a person under 25 that can speak it properly now...