Final Examination Review

Your final examination will have two parts and will last the entire exam period (2 hours). Although the exam questions will be weighted to the material covered since the midterm, the exam will be cumulative, so consult the review sheet from the mid-term. The first part of the exam will contain five multiple choice questions and three short answer questions (for a total of 40 points). This section should take you roughly 40 minutes. The second part of the exam will contain two essay questions, each worth 30 points. This section should take you roughly 1 hour (so that leaves you 20 minutes to get acclimated to the test and to proofread it once you have finished). As a general strategy for review, I would suggest looking over your class notes and the class handouts, as well as your quizzes and any notes you have taken on your readings. The exam covers only the required and not the supplementary readings.

The following list of topics for review reflects the division of your examination.

Possible Topics for Multiple Choice Questions and Short Answers: 

• The criteria for determining a just war (both the ius ad bellum and the ius in bello criteria)
• The meaning of active nonviolence and the Christian justifications for pacifism
• The principle of double effect (and its possible applications)
• The rationale for the dominant Catholic position on abortion (as outlined by the CDF, with respect to individual moral decisions and public policy)
• The Catholic response to racism (especially Massingale’s critique of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ approach)
• The meaning of justice (and the threefold division of kinds of justice), the common good, and the preferential option for the poor
• The meaning of structural sin (and how this differs from individual sin and institutional imperfections)
• The difference between self-defense and contraception in the case of HIV/AIDS in Africa (especially the statements by Bishop Dowling and the South African Bishops’ Conference)
• Perhaps something on the presentations and discussions about the group projects (hope that yours is chosen!) 

Sample Essay Questions:

The following are sample essay questions that might appear on the final exam. You will likely be asked to select two of four essays. In addition to those listed below, consult your mid-term review sheet, as there might be a question on a topic similar to those you reviewed for the midterm. You will be asked to cite at least three sources from our course readings in your answer to each question. In some cases, the sources you are to use will be specified in the question.

1. In Question 61, article 2 of Summa Theologica I-II (p. 92), Thomas Aquinas says, “The good can be considered in two ways. First, as existing in the consideration itself of reason, and thus we have one principal virtue called prudence. Secondly, according as the reason puts its order into something else, and this either into operations, and then we have justice, or into the passions, and then we need two virtues [temperance and fortitude].” Using this understanding of rational order in the moral life, compare Aquinas’ understanding of virtue to Paul VI’s in Humanae Vitae (as this applies to a well-ordered married life) and Augustine’s view of virtue as a form of love in On the Morals of the Catholic Church. Give an argument for why you find virtue a useful or useless category (or somewhere in between) for analyzing moral issues.
2. We have examined the issue of violent conflict and studied two Christian responses to this issue: the tradition of “just war” reasoning and the tradition of Christian pacifism. Using once concrete case with which you are familiar (and if you are not familiar with any such case, I would suggest using Kenneth Himes’ article on Iraq as one of your sources), please argue for a just war response, a Christian pacifist response, or some other coherent alternative response to the conflict in question.
3. Throughout this semester, we have considered many issues that pertain to Christian understandings of marriage, family and love. Using one case that you judge adequately addresses the complexity of loving in a world riddled with conflicts and at least a mild sense of tragedy, address the following question: How is Christian love best expressed and is its expression limited to acts? (You might consider [but are not limited to] the following issues: married couples where one or the other partner is infected with HIV; homosexual persons or couples; infertility and the responses of adoption or in vitro fertilization.)
4. The teaching of the Catholic bishops on economic justice provides a significant challenge to people who might otherwise judge themselves to be (in the unfortunate phrase) “good Catholics.” Using the bishops’ letter, Economic Justice for All, as a starting point (and employing two other sources), address the following questions: What, if any, obligation do people have to the common good? Are such obligations discharged through monetary support of charities working toward justice in society or is something more required? How should Christians prioritize their limited financial resources and their time for social activism or should they refrain from any social involvement?
5. Our world is full of social problems for which, in many cases, there are no easy answers. One way of viewing these problems from the perspective of Catholic theology is to examine the difference between individual sin and structural sin. Arguing either from the case of racism or the case of abortion, answer the following questions: What is required for people to escape structures of sin? Is it possible for people to do this on their own and, if not, what is required? Must we always prioritize an analysis of individual actions in addressing such social problems?
6. Throughout this semester, we have examined various Catholic writings that speak about the order God intends for the world, the extent to which human beings can know this order, and their duty to conform their lives to it. Using three different sources, answer the following questions. How do we know the order God intended for the world? Are there particular moral obligations that we are bound to fulfill once we know this order? Do the obligations that flow from this order ever conflict, or is God’s order such that it is always possible to know clearly what is right and to act accordingly in any situation? (You might illustrate this by appealing to one of the following cases: sex and procreation; family economic advancement and the desire for financial security, or our patterns of material consumption [including but not limited to dietary habits].)
7. Throughout the semester, we have examined different understandings of human freedom and the importance of freedom in specifying the morality of a human act. Using John Paul II and Josef Fuchs as your staring points, discuss what if any limits human beings face in trying to live faithfully by God’s law. You may also want to consider whether there are certain moral situations which challenge the usefulness of Pope John Paul II’s description of moral action as expressed in Veritatis Splendor (par. 74, 77-78), where he says that “the consideration of these consequences, and also of intentions, is not sufficient for judging the moral quality of a concrete choice. The weighing of the goods and evils foreseeable as the consequence of an action is not an adequate method for determining whether the choice of that concrete kind of behavior is ‘according to its species’ or ‘in itself,’ morally good or bad, licit or illicit” (par. 77).

Grading Standard for Final Exam Essay Questions

On the mid-term, you had limited time to prepare and to write your answers to the essay questions. Because your final exam period is preceded by more preparation time and provides you more time to write your answers, I am going to hold your answers to a higher standard. To help you to attain these standards, I have provided the following list of elements that I will be looking for in your answers.

In order to earn a top grade, your essay will have to include the following:

• Thesis Statement: You must include a clear thesis statement that answers the question (or questions) being asked of you. In addition, you must demonstrate a logical connection between the thesis you argue and the evidence you collect in support of it.
• Sources: You must use the required number of sources (in most cases, this means three) in a way that demonstrates that you understand what they are saying. Make it clear what the sources mean on their own terms, in the context of their arguments, before you use them in support of your argument. Just citing sources is not enough; you must make it clear how these sources support your position.
• Assessing the Counter-Argument: If you want to make your essay stand out, make it clear to me that you know both the position you are arguing for and also the position with which you disagree. This is not a matter of complicity with evil, just a matter of respectful debate and good argument. Ask yourself, why on earth would anyone hold the position with which you disagree so strongly? Then offer your argument for why your position is the better one.
• Clarity and Organization: Make sure that your essay follows a clear path from your thesis to your conclusion, with each paragraph building some important element in your argument. If I have to go hunting for your good points (or if I need to make excessively charitable interpretations of what you are saying in order to see good points in your essay), then I am far less likely to give you a top grade for your essay.

Only those essays which clearly satisfy all of these criteria will be given a grade in the “A” range. If you have a clear thesis statement, if you employ the sources to support your argument such that it is clear you know what these sources are actually saying, and if your essay has a clear, logical progression, then you will receive a grade in the “B” range. If you merely cite sources around a rather vague thesis statement, or if I have to go hunting for the logic of the essay, then you will receive a grade in the “C” range. If you write but a few words, unclear and with no sense of a thesis statement at all, you will receive a grade in the “D” range. And if you refuse to answer the question, principled and heroic as such a stance might be, you will receive no points.