Western Civilization Exam

[kfridlin]

Hi,
I don't know if I am in the right place or not. If I am not I am sorry. I am preparing to take Western Civilization I. Hopefully I can test next Friday. I was wondering if anybody has taken the test in the past six months, July 2014-Jan. 2015? What should I expect? What should I study the most? What study habits have you found helpful for the test?
Thanks!!!!!

Moved from specific exam feedback.

[twas brillig]

I took this CLEP today and passed.

I didn't take Western Civilization in High School so I did not have previous exposure to the topic school wise so that may have made preparing more difficult for me. I am a busy undergraduate student so I didn't have much time to prepare for this like I should have. To prepare, I spent an hour or so daily for about 4 days reading through InstantCert's flashcards and Quizlet's flashcards(free). I also read Spielvogel's Western Civilization book(free/cheap if you look around) right before the semester started. I started with Ancient Mesopotamia and read every chapter all the way up to the fall of the Roman Empire.

The test that I took was 117 questions in 90 minutes. During the test, I managed to finish answering all my questions with about 30 minutes left to spare. I took this time to go over the questions I had marked for review and spent more time thinking. So with that said, her are some study suggestions based on what I saw on my test.

• I would be familiar with Church and the different Reformations. Also know what religious practices each groups may of had in common and which ones fell out of practice.
  
• Know the difference between Calvinism and Lutheranism and what countries where a part of what group.
  
• Learn about the major wars and who/what caused them. It would be helpful to know about allies(if any) on both sides. Try to find out the results of each war. Did it bring prosperity? Peace? Economic improvements? By "major wars" I mean the popular ones that most people have heard of. Peloponnesian War, 100 Years War, 30 Years War, Battle of Thermopylae, etc. I would probably know who the leaders of all these battles were as well.
  
• Since there will be a few pictures/maps on the exam, I would be sure to at least have some exposure as to where all the countries were at different time periods. You may have a picture of a sculpture or painting and you will need to be able to identify something historical with it. This isn't very difficult because usually the paintings "scream" the answer. Like Michelangelo's sculpture, David, or the Sistine Chapel.
  
• I would know about the differences and similarities between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
  
• Read some of the excerpts and summaries from popular writers/poets/thinkers during different time periods such as, Livy, Homer, Plato, Thucydides, Cicero.
  
• Learn about who the awful kings, leaders, dictators were and the implications of their foolishness. Some examples off the top of my head are Gregory and Nero. But don't ignore the good leaders! Who had many years of peace? Who greatly expanded empires? Who helped build more roads or create laws?